Archive for the ‘GF Blue Plate Specials (Recipes)’ Category
January 29th, 2010
Have I ever told you how well I love cornmeal? Naturally gluten-free, and inexpensive to boot. What more could a girl ask for? This quick and easy tomato recipe is a bit more exciting than plain workaday polenta, but you can still make it without breaking a sweat. Parmesan cheese is a bit of a stretch on a budget, but it is so incredibly flavorful, that a little goes a long way. And once the cheese is gone, save the rind and add to the pot when you make soup for incredible depth of flavor. Just remember to remove the rind before serving.
Tomato Polenta
Ingredients
1 cup milk (lowfat is fine, nonfat is not)
1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for topping)
1. Remove the tomatoes from the can, chop them roughly, then set them aside. In a large saucepan, warm the milk over medium heat until simmering gently. You don’t want it to boil. Add the chopped tomatoes with their juice, plus the salt, to the pan, and stir to combine. The acid in the tomatoes may cause the milk to begin to curdle. This is no problem.
2. Continue to heat the tomato and milk mixture until it returns to simmering. Once the liquid is simmering, add the cornmeal in a slow but steady stream, whisking constantly, making sure there are no lumps. Reduce the heat to low, and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese until it is fully incorporated and melted.
Serve with a few extra shavings of Parmesan cheese. You won’t believe how rich this dish is with so few ingredients. But believe it, baby.
Warmly,
Nicole
January 8th, 2010
how many fingers am I holding up?
I don’t generally feed my children “kid food.” Even before we had the dietary limitations of celiac disease to contend with, I just have always found it kind of annoying when people bring their children to my house and expect that I’m going to provide special food for the kids. So, in the spirit of abiding by one’s principles, I had my kids eating real food from the very first opportunity. Which brings us to chicken fingers.
This is not kid food, I swear it. It’s actual food. Make the strips of chicken a bit wider, and you don’t have to use a body part nickname, and you can serve them to a group of full grown adults. Make the strips long and narrow, stick them into a paper-lined mesh basket, and your kids will think they’ve died and gone to heaven.
I make very quick work of these simple beauties by buying a large package of boneless chicken breast (when it’s on sale, of course), and trimming the breasts, slicing them into strips, then storing them in separate resealable food storage bags in 1 to 1.5 pound lots. When I plan to make chicken fingers, I just defrost a package in the refrigerator overnight. Dinner can be ready in mere minutes.
Chicken Fingers
Ingredients
1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
4 tablespoons canola oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3-4 cups finely ground gluten free cereal (I usually use gf corn flakes
)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the chicken strips, oil, and the melted butter. This works best if the chicken is not very cold. If it is cold, the chicken will cause the melted butter to set rather than stay liquid. Toss the chicken with the oil and butter until each strip is coated, ideally with both the oil and the butter. Set this bowl aside.
3. In a separate, flat, medium sized bowl, add the crushed cereal, salt and pepper, and stir to combine the ingredients well. Press both sides of each strip of chicken, one strip at a time, into the cereal mixture, and then place the strips side by side on the lined baking sheets.
4. Place the baking sheets in the preheated 375 degree oven and bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets once during baking. The strips should bubble a bit and the cereal coating should be pretty crisp.
The oil and butter not only help the crushed cereal stick to the chicken, but they keep the chicken moist, and the butter flavors both the cereal and the meat. Delightful. These are really best right out of the oven. If you have any leftovers, and let’s be honest you won’t, but if you do, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and reheat them in the oven to crisp them back up.
Warmly,
Nicole
December 14th, 2009
Squash, anyone?
Okay, hear me out. This is waaaaaay yummier than you would think. I don’t know why. It just IS. And you’re gonna thank me for it. It’s warm and comforting, and completely satisfying.
Before I jump right into our game of squash, I have a bit of an announcement. I have tried to think of a million different ways to talk about this to all of you. I feel like I’m ready to propose to you — each of you, I love you all equally, it’s true — and I’m searching in vain to find a way to pop the question but everything seems trite or cheesy. And I asked your father a month ago, and he agreed to allow me your hand in marriage, but I still haven’t pulled the trigger. I’m so embarrassed.
I’m writing a Gluten-Free on a Shoestring cookbook. The manuscript is due at the end of April 2010. Oh crap.
The publisher is Da Capo, a division of Perseus books. After the blog was mentioned in the New York Times, a literary agent contacted me, said that in this space (the cost-conscious, shoestring space) there was a big ol’ gap in the gluten-free market, and invited me to assemble a proposal. We put it together at the end of the Summer, toot sweet, and Perseus bought it right quick. It should hit the shelves around January 2011.
Still up for that game of squash?
Squash Pasta
Ingredients
1 pound short gluten-free pasta
1 large acorn squash (or 2 small)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2-3 tablespoons ground cinnamon (to taste)
3-4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 cup milk (your choice – as long as it’s not non-fat)
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Pierce the outside of the acorn squash with a fork on all sides. Slice open the squash, remove the seeds (don’t toss them! toast them like you would pumpkin seeds; they’re delicious), and place both halves, cut side down, on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until soft (the skin should pierce very easily with a fork). When it’s done, remove from the oven, immediately turn over the squash halves, place 1 tablespoon of butter in each half, sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of ground cinnamon over each half. Allow the squash to cool a bit so it is easier to handle. This will also give it a chance for the flesh of the squash to absorb the butter. When warm, it is like a sponge. A delicious sponge.
2. In the meantime, cook the pasta according to the package directions, then place the cooked pasta in a large bowl. To the pasta, add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter when the pasta is still warm and toss to coat. Set the large bowl aside.
3. Once the squash is cool enough, and the butter has absorbed, peel off and discard its skin. In a medium-sized bowl, mash the flesh well. A regular fork will do, but a potato masher works a bit better. To the squash, add the salt, remaining cinnamon, maple syrup and milk. Whisk the mixture until well-combined.
4. Add the squash mixture to the pasta, and stir gently until all of the pasta is coated. Serve warm.
So as you might have guessed, the book is the reason that I have not been as prolific on the blog as I once was. I’m still here, though, scout’s honor. Just a little bogged down….
Warmly,
Nicole
November 28th, 2009
A gluten free Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night … and then a really good After-Thanksgiving Sandwich.
At Thanksgiving dinner, all 3 of my kids ate themselves silly, and then, at the very end of the night, asked that I save the scraps they simply could not eat. The very next day, they were all clamoring for leftovers (and interrogating me about whether or not I did in fact save their individual scraps). I did not cook at all that day. It was glorious. In an effort to eek out one more meal from my Thanksgiving efforts, I have assembled a lovely After-Thanksgiving Sandwich. And I invite you to do the same….
What I did looks dramatic, but is simple. The depth of the cranberry color makes all the difference in the presentation, with no more than a modicum of effort. I took a couple of thick slices of Tom’s Sandwich Bread, buttered each side of the bread and then topped the butter with a generous layer of cranberry sauce, then layered in some sliced Thanksgiving turkey, and topped it with Apple & Leek Cornbread Stuffing. Assemble the sandwich, slice it in half with a large serrated knife, & enjoy.
In case you don’t know the pleasures of homemade cranberry sauce, here’s a quick recipe. I usually buy a bunch of bags of fresh cranberries this time of year, when they’re readily available, and throw a few in the freezer. Homemade cranberry sauce is so nice, I even make it other random times during the year. Cranberries also work beautifully in Any Berry Scones. You just use them frozen — no need to defrost before baking them with the scones.
Whole Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1 12 oz. bag fresh whole cranberries
1 cup water
scant 2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir to combine.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the berries are soft and sauce is as thick as you desire.
3. Allow the sauce to cool. This may be stored in the refrigerator for days, so it’s great to make ahead of time.
Enjoy your After-Thanksgiving wonders!
Warmly,
Nicole
November 18th, 2009
Can you believe it’s almost Thanksgiving? For me, normally time doesn’t pass fast or slow. It just passes in real time. But the last couple of weeks have been an exception. Time seems to go forward in fits and spurts, and I find myself bewildered by the fact that it’s Thanksgiving already.
Most years, I am a guest at someone else’s Thanksgiving table, and there is no doubt that that has a certain charm to it. But because of Jonathan’s celiac disease, I cook anyhow — and I end up catering for 1. And my two girls always want to eat what Jonathan has, foodies that they are, so it’s like catering for 1 + 1/2 + 1/2. Nonsense. So this year we’re hosting, and I’m cooking it all. I love it, but don’t expect me to also be able to remember, on any given day, what day of the week it is.
So in the spirit of the Pilgrims, who of course we all know made stuffing, I give you the slightly sweet, mostly savory, totally naturally gluten free Cornbread Stuffing.
Apple & Leek Cornbread Stuffing
Ingredients
Six tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 leeks, trimmed and sliced thinly in cross-section
3 McIntosh apples, peeled, cored & diced
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 recipe Old fashioned GF cornbread, crumbled
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk
1. In a medium saucepan over very low heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. Once the butter is melted, add the leeks, apples, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, and parsley, and cook, covered, over medium-low heat until the leeks and apples are soft and the flavors married. The mixture should be very fragrant.
2. Add the crumbled cornbread to the mixture and stir to combine. Break up any very large pieces with your stirring spoon. Set aside the mixture to cool for about 10-15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line 12 muffin cups or a casserole dish and set it aside.
4. Combine the eggs and milk in a separate small bowl and whisk to combine. After the 10-15 minutes of cooling off, temper the beaten egg mixture by adding a few spoonfuls of the stuffing mixture and stirring gently. This exercise allows the eggs to accustom to the temperature of the warm stuffing mixture without being scrambled. Add the tempered egg mixture to the rest of the stuffing mixture and stir gently until completely combined.
5. If using a muffin tin, divide the mixture evenly among the muffin tins and press down the tops. If using a casserole dish, spread the mixture evenly in the dish and smooth the top. You don’t want any big pieces of cornbread sticking up. They’ll burn.
6. Place the stuffing in the preheated oven and bake for 20 or 25 minutes (20 minutes for the muffin cups; 25 minutes for a casserole dish), or until the egg is set and the stuffing is nicely browned.
Serve warm or at room temperature. In my book, if I sit down and everything is lukewarm, I consider it a victory.
Warmly,
Nicole
October 26th, 2009
isn't she lovely?
Isn’t she wonderful? Look at those crackers. They’re makin’ me crackers! I generally stay away from making snacks like this. I don’t really need them too often, just here and there for my kids, so I usually just cough up the cash for Glutino pretzels, and buy some conventional brand chips that are gluten-free, and call it quits.
But these are different.
These crackers are super-simple, seductively elegant, inexpensive to make, and terribly versatile. As pictured here, they’re rounds. But you can make them in any old shape you like. Cut the dough into strips, and they’re sticks. Roll the strips end over end, and they’re cheese puffs. Cheese puffs!
Cheese Crackers
Ingredients
1 cup all purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and then kept cold
1 cup finely grated cheese, preferably cheddar
4-6 tablespoons milk (any kind with at least a bit of fat), chilled
1. Mix the flour, xanthan gum, and salt in a medium-sized bowl until well combined. Add the cheese and stir to combine.
2. Using a hand-held pastry blender (or simply two knives, or a food processor, if you prefer), cut the diced butter into the flour/cheese mixture until the mixture resembles small peas. The idea is for the butter to be in small pieces, and each small piece to be swathed in the flour mixture.
3. Now add the milk to the mixture, tablespoon by tablespoon, first stirring to combine, then squeezing the mixture, adding milk and squeezing until the dough comes together into a cohesive ball. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour, up to overnight.
4. Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap until it’s about the thickness of a nickel (about 1/8″ thick, for those of you who are wondering what a nickel is). At this point, you could uncover the dough and dust it with more flour, but that would cost extra. Instead, the dough will be super easy to handle without an extra dusting of flour if you simply place it — still covered in both sheets of plastic wrap, flat on its back in the refrigerator to chill for another 10-15 minutes. In the meanwhile, line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Once the dough has chilled again, use a biscuit cutter to cut rounds and place them evenly spaced apart on the baking sheets. Place in the preheated oven and bake, rotating halfway through, for about 12-14 minutes, until pale golden brown (or darker, if you like).
I must apologize for the radio silence of late. Can you ever forgive me?
Warmly,
Nicole
September 22nd, 2009
gnice
Would you believe me if I told you that even gluten free gnocchi have only 4 ingredients? Have I ever lied to you?
Right off the bat, though, I must admit that the significance of the fact that I served up a beautiful bowl of homemade gluten free gnocchi was almost certainly lost on my {relatively small} children. They do not know that this should not be something to expect. I have completely ruined them.
That being said, my husband was thrilled. Not only is gnocchi one of his favorites, but he was wowed by how indistinguishable the gluten free version is from the conventional version. Now, it may very well be that I have done something in this recipe to utterly offend those of you out there who are Italian through and through. I’m no Mario Batali, nor do I pretend to be. I’m just a girl, married to a boy … who loves gnocchi.
Gnocchi
Ingredients
4 large Idaho (or similar sized) potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour of your choosing
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1. For the sake of sanity (which I highly prize, and I find to be in short supply), I suggest that you make the potatoes in advance. Whenever you’re using the oven for something else already, wash, pierce and bake the 4 potatoes (or equivalent) in their skins at about 400 degrees for about an hour, until they’re soft when you squeeze them. Let them cool slightly, then peel them (I actually use a vegetable peeler, but handle this however you like), melt the butter into them, and then beat the living daylights out of them (use a food processor or a hand-held or stand mixer; just do it until they’re finely beaten). Many recipes for gnocchi call for boiling the potatoes. I think that is just silly. They absorb too much moisture, and then you have a heck of a time combating the extra moisture in the final product. If you bake them in a dry, hot oven, you will have them just where you want them. After you have beaten the potatoes and butter, cover them in a bowl and chill them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. You want them chilly.
2. Whisk together the flour and xanthan gum until well combined. Once the potatoes are chilled, add the flour and xanthan gum mixture a bit at a time to the potatoes and knead it in, squeezing the dough as you go. It should hold together.
3. Now it’s time to roll the dough into the ropes that will form the basis for the little darlings themselves. The traditional way to go is to roll the dough into very long ropes on a floured surface. If you find that’s possible, more power to you. Me, I roll lumps of dough into about 3-6 inch ropes, or as long as I can manage them. Give each lump of dough a good squeeze in between your palms, and then roll the dough either between your palms or on a floured flat surface. The most important thing is that the dough holds together solidly. After you have rolled a few, let them sit for a few minutes. It will allow the flour mixture to absorb the moisture of the potatoes.
4. While the dough is sitting, boil a large pot of water. In the meantime, cut the ropes into 1″ pieces with a sharp knife, then mark each with the tines of a fork to make ridges (it allows the gnocchi to hold onto sauce better). One by one (and in batches of about 20), once the water is boiling, gently drop each little nugget into the boiling water and allow to cook for about 3 minutes, until they float to the top (and it’s very, very exciting when they do float to the top). Fish out the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Repeat with the remaining dough. Serve with tomato sauce (or whatever else you like).
This recipe can be easily doubled.
Enjoy!
Warmly,
Nicole
September 16th, 2009
That's Amore
I love pizza as much as the next guy, but sometimes it just doesn’t feel like a meal, you know? And the last thing I want is my kids giving me the “that’s all?” look. I do not like that look, since it usually means more work for me. So my object is to feed them well, and then be left alone — in that order. And it’s also sort of like making sure you wear nice underwear, like your mother told you, in case you get into an accident and the paramedics have to rip your clothes off. You don’t want to embarrass yourself unnecessarily. I want my kids to eat well in case, at any point in their young school careers, some well-meaning teacher asks them what they had for dinner last night. I want to hold my head high.
I wish I were kidding. I’m not. Once again, I’m fairly certain I need a job.
Stuffed Pizza
Pizza Crust Ingredients
3/4 cup warm water (just turn the tap on its hottest and wait a moment)
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil (plus extra for brushing)
Filling Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup tomato sauce
4-6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1. We’ll make the pizza crust first, since that has to rise, then chill in the refrigerator for a bit. You can make that in advance if you like, and keep it on hand for a day or so in the refrigerator. Combine 3/4 cup warm water and the yeast into a small bowl. Let stand until yeast dissolves and starts to bubble (5 minutes). If it doesn’t bubble, it’s not active (sometimes yeast dies before its time). Try again.
2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, xanthan gum, sugar, and salt (with a whisk, or just with a fork).
3. Add the yeast mixture plus 3 tablespoons olive oil to flour mixture, then either pulse in a food processor or mix in a bowl with a fork to combine. If using a food processor, pulse the mixture until a ball starts to form (it will happen suddenly). If in a bowl, mix until the dough starts to come together. If it seems super sticky, add some more flour mix a tablespoon at a time until it seems reasonable to stop.
4. Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Pull it apart in a few spots and check to make sure it’s not sticky. Patch up sticky spots by sprinkling on a little bit more flour.
5. Oil a large bowl with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and place the dough inside, turning it to coat with oil. This prevents a crust from forming on the dough while it is rising. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft free area to rise until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).
6. After it is doubled in volume, punch the dough down to deflate it, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
7. In the meantime, let’s make the filling. It’s a snap. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the onion, salt and pepper. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Add the ground beef, salt and pepper and cook the beef until brown (another 5-7 minutes), breaking it up with a spoon where necessary. Once the beef has browned, add the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Set aside the beef mixture.
8. Time to assemble the pie. Grease a 9″ round spring-form pan (not essential but it does make this loads easier) and set it aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the pizza dough from the refrigerator, and break it into two halves. Roll each half out into a 10″ round. Place one round into the bottom of the pan and press the edges toward the middle a bit. Spread the filling over the top of the bottom crust, leaving 1″ from the edge all around. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top of the filling. Place the other round of pizza dough on top, and cinch together the edges of both the top and bottom crusts to form a tight seal.
9. Brush about a tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the outer crust. This will help it brown. Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the crust is browned and it is very fragrant (that’s how you’ll know everything is nicely melted).
10. Slice and enjoy. And rest assured that, no matter when your child is asked what he had for dinner, you’ll be proud of the answer. That’s Amore!
Warmly,
Nicole
September 14th, 2009
come to mama
It’s your typical story: Five-year-old boy reads a story at bedtime on a Saturday in which one of the characters eats French toast, five-year-old boy wonders aloud, “why don’t we ever have French toast?”, fast forward to Sunday morning; the boy’s mother is about to make a respectable breakfast of eggs and potatoes, when the boy announces, nice as you please, “French Toast, Please!”
It was exactly like that, plus I had some bananas that were committing suicide. Oh, and I do not use a griddle. I’m too lazy for that.
Here’s how the story ends:
Deep Dish Banana French Toast
Ingredients
6-8 slices of your poorest excuse for GF bread (save the good stuff)
3-4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk (any kind will do, even nonfat, if you must)
2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 ripe bananas, sliced (even nearly overripe will do)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk (again, any kind)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1. In a 9″x12″ dish (or rough equivalent), whisk the eggs, 1/4 cup milk, cinnamon and vanilla until well-combined. Place the slices of bread in the egg mixture one by one, turning each one over once so both sides of the bread are covered in the mixture. Allow the bread to float around in there for about 15 minutes.
2. Once the bread is done floating, remove the slices, pile them onto a separate plate, and set the plate aside. Pour out the remaining egg mixture into a bowl. Do as I say and make scrambled eggs out of that later to serve with the toast. We’re on a shoestring and we waste not. Do not bother washing the 9″x12″ dish.
3. Arrange the sliced bananas in the bottom of the 9″x12″ dish, overlapping only where necessary. Arrange the egg-soaked bread atop the bananas, overlapping where necessary.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
5. Place the butter, sugars, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup milk in a small saucepan, mix to combine, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon easily. Remove from the heat, and pour the mixture evenly over the top of the egg-soaked bread in the 9″x12″ dish.
6. Place the dish in the center of the preheated oven and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until the sugar has caramelized and thickened. Turn on your oven’s broiler and move the dish to the top rack of the oven, right below the broiler. Broil for no more than 5 minutes, until the bread has toasted around the edges.
Buckle up for the ooohs and aaaaaahhhhhs. Leftovers later are even better.
{The End}
Warmly,
Nicole
September 10th, 2009
Double
Trouble
In my neck of the woods, plums are having their swan song. They’re abundant and cheap, and they, like summer, are on their way out. I like to give them a proper send off — by eating as many as possible in as short a period of time as possible. I find it’s easier to do that if I cook them and then bake them. And I find it’s cheapest when I cook down a bunch of plums in a fitting dressing, and then bake them two ways.
There are so many names for fruit pastries: tart, galette, pie, buckle, crumble, crisp. They do have a few things in common, not the least of which is that they all taste delicious, at least when made right. They can also be atrocious, when made wrong. I believe I make them right. In fact, I’m sure of it. To make them right, you only need follow a few simple guidelines. But, as always, you should personalize and customize your fruit pastry to your tastes. Pick a different fruit altogether, if you like (just be sure to peel it if it has a thick skin like an apple does). Add some fresh lemon juice to the filling, if you go for that sort of thing. Play with it. And I’ll show you how to take the fruit filling and use it in a galette (a rustic tart) and a crumble. You’ll be kind of tired and a little cranky when you’re done, but really quite proud and sweet-smelling.
Plum Filling
Ingredients
6 or 7 medium sized fresh plums, sliced 1/8″ thick (skin on)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. Place all ingredients in a medium-sized pot, and cook over medium-high heat. Stir frequently, and cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. It will still be rather wet, but be patient, my young friend. The mixture will dehydrate to the perfect consistency when it bakes in either the galette or the crumble.
2. Set aside the plum filling and allow it to cool. In the meantime, let’s keep busy…
Galette Pastry Crust
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all purpose gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, diced and kept very cold
About 1/2 cup ice water
2 tablespoons milk
1. Add all the ingredients except the butter to a large nonreactive bowl and whisk them to combine them well. Add the diced butter and cut it in with either two knives or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles peas. Add the ice water, a tablespoon at a time, and press the crumbs together until the pastry begins to come together into a ball of dough.
2. Wrap the pastry dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease or line a baking sheet and set it aside.
4. When the pastry dough is well-chilled, on a lightly floured surface, roll it into a round, about 1/8″ thick. Place the rolled out dough on the baking sheet. Spoon half the cooled plum filling in the center of the round and spread out the filling until it reaches about 1 1/2″ from the edge all around. Fold the edges toward the middle of the pastry, pleating them in one direction all around.
5. Brush the edges of the pastry with the milk. It will help them brown. Chill the galette for about 15 minutes in the refrigerator. It will ensure a flaky pastry.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the edges are golden.
Don’t rest on those laurels. We’ve got a plum crumble to make.
Plum Crumble Topping
Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9″ pie plate and set it aside.
2. Blend the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the flour, xanthan gum and salt and mix with a fork until coarse crumbs form.
2. Spoon the other half of the plum mixture into the prepared pie plate. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top.
3. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the topping has browned a bit.
I need a nap. Right after I eat some plum pastry…
Warmly,
Nicole
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