Gluten-free Muesli.

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite cereals growing up was muesli.   And its something I miss. I had found a gluten-free muesli two years ago in England, when I was on a ship to the US...  its by Julian Graves.    It was amazing stuff.  

So the other day in Whole Foods, I found Brown Rice Flakes.    And the Gluten-Free oats I'd found at Ocean State Job Lots (yay!), and I had Quinoa flakes and cornflakes at home.    I still had the packaging for the muesli (because I'm a bit of a hoarder, but also to try to do this very thing, make my own version).

I added 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 cup of brown rice flakes, 1/4 cup of quinoa flakes,  crushed some cornflakes,  mixed them up.   Chopped up some dried apricots and mixed them in.   I need to get some more dried fruits, dates, raisins and maybe some kind of nut...macadamias would work, Graves used Brazil nuts.  

The basic combination worked very well.  I scooped some into a bowl, poured milk on it, and let it sit a little.....   I have a feeling this is going to be my summer go-to-breakfast, maybe with fresh fruit.....

Gluten-free, locally. Eating out.

So previously, eating out has been a challenge.  But there are more and more places making gluten-free food, which is incredible.  Some of it is vile, Olive Garden is a wonderful example of that.   But yesterday I had an amazing veggie burger on a gluten-free bun.    And the veggie burger was gluten-free!  And I've had gluten-free pizza that wasn't too bad, although it needed more cheese.   And one restaurant has a gluten-free menu!   (P.F. Chang's) with the most amazing chocolate dessert ever.  

Its really amazing.   Its becoming much less strange to ask for gluten-free...  although I do wonder why the sudden upsurge.  I suspect in part it is because restaurants are looking for a new niche.   In part more people may be being diagnosed with celiac, which worries me on another level...  we have so many food allergies these days...

Hot cross buns, Hot Cross Buns..

If you have no daughters, give them to your sons!
One a penny, two a penny, Hot Cross Buns!

1 cup mixed dried fruit.  (one incarnation, I used dried cherries, raisins, and orange peel, the one in the pic has raisins, citron and orange peel) soaked in 1/4 cup hot water.

1 1/4 cups of milk infused with three cardamom pods and a clove.  Remove spices before mixing in.

2 tsp yeast
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1 tsp Xanthan gum
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup potato flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
 3 eggs

1 egg for wash

confectioners sugar
cream

Mix all the dry ingredients together.   Mix mix mix.   Add the milk.   Add the eggs, and then the fruit and its water.  If it needs more moisture, add more milk.    It will be somewhat sticky, but hold together pretty well...

Shape into balls.  You can make BIG rolls or little ones.   Put on baking sheets lined with Silpats or parchment paper.  

Let rise for an hour.  Preheat oven to 350

Cut crosses into the tops, and then brush with egg wash.

Put in the oven for @20 minutes, until golden.

Make an icing with the confectioners sugar and cream, and pipe crosses onto the tops...

And voila!   Hot Cross Buns, just in time for Good Friday!

When Irish Eyes are smiling.....

Gluten-free Irish soda bread:

2 cups g-f oat flour (I ground steel-cut oats in my stand mixer's grain mill)
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup of millet flour
1/4 cup of potato flour
2 tsp Xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
2 cups milk with spoonful of yogurt (or you can use buttermilk)
1 cup dried cranberries (I would have used currants, but the ones I've found all have wheat starch mixed in with them...bah humbug!) soaked with a small capful of spiced rum.


Mix all the dry ingredients.   Add the wet.  Mix, mix, mix.  place into a cake pan and into a 350 oven.  Voila!

Bread, bread, wonderful bread....

Please excuse the mess....I was so enthusiastic about sharing this bread with you.....  it is based on the famous Gluten-free Crusty Boule, but with a few changes.    I actually used Shauna's adaptation, with a few changes of my own.    I did not want an olive-Rosemary loaf, but wanted something with seeds in it.

I didn't have sorghum flour (or its hiding in the back of the fridge or freezer...) so I used 1/2 a cup of chickpea flour and a 1/4 cup of quinoa flour.   I used iodized salt instead of kosher, and a packet of yeast....

After the whole thing was mixed, I divided it up, and added some sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and flax seeds to one portion, let it rise, and then flung it into a 350 degree oven for about an hour.....

And I have a bowl of dough in the fridge to play with!   Yay for bready things without gluten!   I'm going to be playing a lot, the next couple of days....

Dinner, Jan 2, 10

A lovely, light gluten-free dinner for one: quinoa with peas and roasted cauliflower with sunflower seeds and cherry tomatoes....

The nice thing about the components is that they can be morphed for lunch or dinner later in the week...  the quinoa can be tossed with more veggies, and a bit of sausage or feta cheese...  The cauliflower can be transformed into a frittata...   or  tossed with g-f pasta, or added to some chicken...  

New Years Resolutions.

I'm putting this on here, as opposed to my regular blog, because a lot of it has to do with healthy eating. And that's something where most of us fall short with gluten-free life... the things we miss are the treats, the croissants, the cinnamon rolls, the pies, cakes, Christmas cookies, French bread, etc. And the substitutes are universally bland, pallid, crumbly, dense imitations, high in sugar or fat (or both).

So for the new year I am going to try to eat and make healthy gluten-free products. Lots of veggies, brown rice, buckwheat flour, fiber, whole grains... I do need to lose, and have a tendency to head for the unhealthy options as snacks or breakfast.... So this month I will work on healthy g-f breakfasts to start out with...