Your Gluten Free Recipes

Finding a flaky gluten free pie crust recipe has been a challenge for us. A lot of the recipes have a tough crust that is somewhat chewy.  My husband came up with this recipe while looking for a crust for chicken packets.  We also used it as the crust for lemon bars, of which my Mother-in-law said it was delightful.  It actually is light and flaky like a normal pie crust.

1/2 C. tapioca
1/2 C. cornstarch
1/4 C. potato starch
1 C. sweet white rice
dash of sugar
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. coconut oil
1 egg
1 TBSP vinegar
4 TBSP ice water
Sweet white rice or Tapioca Starch, for rolling the dough out.

Thoroughly mix all dry ingredients in a bowl large and shallow enough for a small amount of hand kneading near the end of mixing dough. Cut both butter and coconut oil into the dry ingredients until a finely grained, sandy looking mixture is obtained - typically 5 minutes of vigorous cutting with a pastry knife.
Combine the egg, vinegar, and water in a bowl or large cup. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and combine with a fork until large clumps of dough and almost no dry powder is left.  Knead dough by hand until it remains in a single ball of a very even consistency.  Form dough into a thick disc and wrap dough in plastic wrap (or butcher's paper) and place in the refrigerator for one to two hours.  This will chill the butter and coconut oil to make rolling and handling easier.
When rolled out for use dough should be coated in either White Rice or Tapioca starch, and placed atop a small pile of same to reduce sticking to the surface.  Handle the dough as little as possible as the heat from your hands will soften the dough and make it more difficult to place in the baking dish.
This dough may be rolled out to 1/8" thickness for a crispy\flaky finish, or left up to 1/2" thick for a slightly more 'shortbread' style crust.

I try to make most of my food from scratch.  It insures what is really in it.  I also try to avoid canned products as much as possible, especially now with the evidence of BPA in can liners.  One of the things that I find much tastier that canned is bread and butter corn, similar to creamed corn.  The commercial version of cream corn uses the seconds and unacceptable corn kermels and mashes them so you can't see how imperfect they were.  Do you really want to be eating infere quality?  Not me.  Last summer, we bought 4 dozen ears of sweet corn from a friend of mine who grows sweet corn.  We used 3 dozen to make bread and butter corn.  We are still enjoying this creamy treat at the end of January.  It is very versatile.  You can eat is as a side dish, throw some in a stew, goulash, chili, or a soup.  It is really easy to make.

Enough corn kernels from sweet corn to fill a 9"x13" baking dish.
1 lb. butter
1 quart cream
salt and pepper to taste.

Fill 9"x13" pan with the corn. Slice pound of butter into pads and spread over the top of corn.  Add the cream.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.  The corn is done when the lernels are tender.  Let cool completely and them put into freezer bags or containers( I recommend glass containers to avoid BPA and Xenoextrogens that plastic can leach into the food).  Put into freezer.  Can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 year for optimum freshness.  To use. thaw in cool water until you can remove from container, then transfer to pan and heat thoroughly and serve. If using inanother recipe, add when you would add other vegetables.

I made this dish for lunch yesterday just by using what I had on hand and some hamburger.  My kids loved it and it was super easy and nutritious.  It makes me very happy when I come up with a nutritious meal that my kids love.  Makes me feel like I have accomplished my goal, for that meal at least.

1 lb. hamburger
1 green pepper, chopped
1 leek, diced
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
8 oz. bread and butter corn ( homemade and frozen, recipe to come in the future)
1 C. brown rice, cooked

In a large frying pan, brown the hamburger.  Add in the vegetables and garlic and stir fry until almost tender.  Add the spices and spaghetti sauce and heat until bubbly.  Add rice and heat until rice is heated through.  Serve with feta cheese, or Parmesan on top.

Sugar cookies are a common holiday treat, but for those who are gluten free it may be hard to find one you can eat.  I was craving sugar cookies, so my family enthusiastically set out on the challenge with me to create a gluten free sugar cookie that waw equal to the regular cookies.  I must admit this still needs a little work, but it is a satisfying alternative.  The cookies ended up spreading a lot, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to prevent this, we'd love to hear therm

1/2 C Almond Meal
1/2 C Sweewt White Rice
1/2 C Brown Rice
3/4 C Corn Starch
3/4 C Tapioca Starch
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 C Butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Alternative:
Replace 1/2 C Almond flour with 1/4 C each Tapioca and Corn Starch. This gives a much more Sugar Cookie appearance, but will require the addition of Almond Extract if desired.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add vanilla and dry ingredients until blended well.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Take small portions of the dough at a time and form a disk.  Roll out on a coutner or board that has been lightly dusted with powdered sugar to about 1/4".  Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.  Put onto cookie sheets leaving about 1-2" between each cookie.  Bake for about 12 minutes (every oven is different so keep an eye on the first batch).  Remove from cookie sheet soon after removal from oven and allow to finish cooling on a cookie rack.  If decorating with icing, make sure cookies are completely cooled before frosting.

One thing that I really miss because I am allregic to MSG, is Chinese food.  I love Chinese food but don't dare to eat it at a restaurant because there are so many hidden names for MSG.  So, I have not eaten Chinese for over a year.
There is a restaurant in our town that has some of the most amazing Chinese, unfortunately it is not MSG free.  One of our favorite dishes was Orange Chicken. My husband and I decided to give an old recipe for orange chicken a gluten free twist.   We were very pleased with the outcome, I especially was happy to be able to enjoy Chinese food again. Good Chinese food DOES NOT have to have MSG!!!

2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. salt
white pepper
oil for frying (preferably coconut)
1/2 C. cornstarch, plus 1 TBSP
1/4 C. tapioca flour
1 TBSP ginger root, minced
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed hot red chili peppers
1/4 C. green onion, chopped
1 TBSP rice wine
1/4 C. water
1/2 tsp, sesame oil ( we used toasted sesame oil)

Orange Sauce:
1 1/2 TBSP wheat free tamari
1 1/2 TBSP water
5 TBSP sugar
5 TBSP vinegar
zest of 1 orange

Place chicken pieces in a large bowl.  Stir in eggs, salt, pepper, and 1 TBSP oil and mix well.  Stir cornstarch and tapioca flour together. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.  Heat oil in a wok or deep-fryer to 375 degrees.  Add chicken, small batches at a time, and fry 3-4 minutes or until golden crisp.(Do not over cook the chicken).  Remove chicken from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside.  Clean wok and heat for 15 seconds over high heat.  Add 1 TBSP oil.  Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds.  Add crushed chilies and green onions and stir-fry.  Add rice wine and stir for 3 seconds.  Add orange sauce and bring to a boil.  Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.  Stir water into remaining 1 TBSP of cornstarch until smooth and add to the chicken.  Heat until sauce is thickened.  Stir in sesame oil and orange zest if desired.  Serve over jasmine rice or fried rice.

Breakfast time can be challenging for those who are gluten free.  Many of the commercial gluten free cereals are not the best tasting.  My sister-in-law had a great breakfast egg bake that we worked on together to make gluten free.  Here is the delicious recipe we came up with.


1/2 C.  Sorghum flour
1/2 C. Corn starch
1/2 C. Tapioca Flour
1/2 C. Sweet white rice flour
2 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C. ham, cooked and diced
1 C. cheese, shredded
4 C.  Milk
8 eggs
salt and pepper to taste.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Layer the cheese and cubed ham.  Mixed the egg, milk, and dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Pour over the ham and cheese.  Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, until the top looks golden brown.

I love the combination of lemons and poppy seeds.  The tartness of the lemons mixed with the crunch of the poppy seeds is perfection.  I have been searching for a gluten free version of a poppy seed cake and have converted a recipe that I loved before becoming gluten free.  This recipe makes a very nicely textured cake that resembles the regular version.  For all those poppy seed lovers, Bon Appetit

1 C. butter
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
6 eggs
2 1/4 C. tapioca flour
3/4 C. white rice flour
1 1/2 tsp. guar gum
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 C. granulated sugar
1/4 C. poppy seeds
2 tsp. vanilla

Lemon Icing:
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1-2 TBSP lemon juice

Bring butter, cream cheese and eggs to room temperature.  Grease and lightly flour with tapioca flour a 10" tube pan.  Combine flours, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
 In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for about 30 seconds or until softened.  Gradually add sugar, 2 TBSP at a time, beating on medium for about 5  minutes or until very light and fluffy.  Add poppy seeds and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium for 1 minute after each addition and scraping bowl frequently.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just until combined.  Pour batter into pan.
Bake at 325 for about 75 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack.  Drizzle lemon icing over
cake.
Lemon icing:  In a small bowl combine all the icing ingredients and stir until it reaches a drizzling consistency.  Drizzle over cooled cake.

Many sausage products out there have MSG in them.  Even if you find one without MSG it most likely will have  nitrites in them.  Nitrites are linked to cancers, so I like to eat foods that are as natural as possible and nitrites free.  This usually means I need to make them from scratch.  I found a wonderful recipe for homemade Italian sausage in a La Leche League cookbook.  I don't use a lot of pork, so I converted it to one that uses beef.

1 pound ground beef (organic is preferred)
1 medium onion, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. fennel seed, crushed
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. thyme
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Knead all of the ingredients into the ground beef.  The mixture may now be formed into patties, loaves, links, or browned.  For the best flavor the sausage should be refrigerated in an air tight container for 2-3 days before use.  If you use the sausage immediately the flavors will not be as strong. If you cannot use all the sausage, freeze it.  It will keep in the freezer for 1-2 months.

The original recipe for this was not gluten free and used store bought sausage, which may or may not be MSG free.  I really liked it before I became gluten free, so I decided to rework it and make it gluten and MSG free by making my own sausage, and using gluten free bread.  I served this on New Year's Day and everyone loved it.

1 pound homemade Italian sausage
4 1/2C. day old almond bread
2 C. sharp cheddar, shredded
10 eggs slightly beaten (organic if possible)
4C. organic whole milk
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 C. sliced mushrooms, sauteed
1/2 C. diced tomatoes
1/2 of a sweet pepper
1 onion, minced

Heat a skillet on medium.  Break up the sausage into chunks and cook, until browned completely.  Place bread in a well buttered (or coconut oil) 9" X 13" baking pan.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Combine eggs, milk, dry mustard, onion powder, and pepper.  Pour evenly over the bread and cheese.  Sprinkle sausage and the remaining ingredients over the top.  At this stage, you can chill overnight or let sit for 10 minutes before putting in the oven.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Bake uncovered for about 1 hour ( a little longer if you chilled over night).

Chocolate chip cookies are something most everyone relate to.  I love a good cookie now and then, but since going gluten free, I have found it less of a craving. Last night, my whole family was craving a sweet treat, so we decided to try and rework a recipe we used before going gluten free.  It was a Neiman Marcus cookie recipe, but with a twist.  Not only did we substitute for gluten free flours, but we decided to add some gluten free oats and raisins into the recipe.  The result was a cookie with crispness on the outside and soft in the middle.  Perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea.