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Monday, March 26, 2012

Gluten Free Shredded Beef

A picture of shredded beef

Hey everyone! I hope y'all had a good weekend, and aren't having too many allergy attacks. Virginia is currently going through an early spring this year, and it has been tearing up my sinuses over the past week. The tradeoff is well worth it, as I'm now in the mood for fresh produce and the ultimate food of warm weather: barbeque. 

I have a mean pulled pork recipe that I plan on sharing this year, but for now here's my recipe for shredded beef. Best part? Cooked it in a pressure cooker, which cuts down the cook time incredibly. 

Now despite the fact that faux-slow cooked chuck roast tastes amazing, everyone really knows the meat in a barbeque is nothing without the sauce. There are several schools of barbeque sauce, and I prefer mine with a lot of vinegar, similar to Carolina style barbeque.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbsp paprika 
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

2 lb rump roast
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cup water 
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup gluten free ketchup
1/4 cup white vinegar 
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder

Steps
Set a pressure cooker over medium high heat. Combine the paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Rub into the rump roast. Add some olive oil and brown all sides of the roast, about 1-2 minutes per side. Add the water and onion to the pot, and cover with the pressure cooker lid. Once the pressure is sealed and the reaches optimal pressure, cook for 35 minutes.

While the meat cooks, combine the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat to create a sauce.

Once the roast is cooked, remove from the cooker, and let sit for 5 minutes. Shred the beef with 2 forks, and combine with the sauce. Serve with rice or collard greens and enjoy!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Gluten Free Oreo Cremes


Hey everyone, here is a quick, easy, and delicious dessert using Glutino sandwich cookies and Jello
pudding. Feel free to substitute the cream with 2% milk. The only change is the dessert will have to set for longer.


Prep Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4 ramekins

Ingredients:
1 container of Glutino Cookies
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 3.4 oz package of vanilla instant pudding
1 pint heavy cream

Steps:
Crush one row of the cookies, with the filling removed. Mix with the butter and evenly press into the 4 ramekins.

Leave 4 cookies aside. Take the rest of the cookies, remove the filling, and crush. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the pudding and cream until soft peaks form. Fold in the cookies and evenly distribute in the ramekins. Refrigerate for an hour before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and whole cookies.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Gluten Free Fresh Fruit Crepes


Hi everyone! Earlier today I posted a recipe for a sweet dessert crepe (Brownie Crepes with Strawberry Wine Sauce) and a savory crepe (Basil and Tomato Crepe with Feta) both of which are gluten free. Here's a simple yet awesome fresh fruit crepe that goes perfect with any breakfast. I love the taste of strawberries and blueberries together, but feel free to substitute with your favorites.

Be sure to go to this link to view my main ratio rally post, which contains a list of all the awesome crepe recipes our group created. 


 Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 1 -2 minutes per crepe
Serves: 4 crepes

Ingredients:
Crepes
50g egg (~1 large egg)
50g milk
2 tsp vanilla
10g tapioca flour
15g potato starch

Filling
6-7 Strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
1 1/2  tbsp sugar

Steps
In a small bowl, combine the berries and the sugar. Stir until the sugar evenly coats the berries. Set aside (and try to avoid eating it until you have no filling like I did!)

Whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Whisk in the flour and starch. Set aside for 30 minutes.

To make the crepes, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add about 1/2 tbsp of butter, and coat the inside of the pan. If there is any melted butter pooling in the pan, discard it before adding the batter, or else you're first crepe will end up greasy (believe me).

Add a small amount of batter ( several tablespoons ) of the pan, and swirl the pan around to coat the bottom of the pan with the batter. Let cook for 45 seconds to 1 minutes. Flip the crepe, and cook for another 30 seconds. 

Fill the crepe with the berry mixture, along with whipped cream if you desire.

Gluten Free Basil Tomato and Feta Crepes

Lesson of the day: Its hard to take a picture of the filling in a filled crepe...
As a part of hosting the Ratio Rally this month, I tried to make a whole variety of sweet and savory crepes. One weekend in February, I hosted a brunch with friends where we had this crepe recipe and a fresh fruit crepe.
This is a great crepe with a fresh tomato and basil filling that is light, healthy, and delicious! I recommend using cherry or baby tomatoes in this recipe, I love the texture of smaller tomatoes over grown ones.

Be sure to check back to this link to see all of the Ratio Rally gluten free recipes posted.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 1 -2 minutes per crepe
Serves: 4 crepes

Ingredients:
Crepes
50g egg (~1 large egg)
50g milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
10g tapioca flour
15g potato starch

4-6 cherry or baby tomatoes
4 leaves of fresh basil
1/4 cup feta cheese
salt and pepper

Steps
Whisk together the egg, milk, and powders until combined. Whisk in the flour and starch. Set aside for 30 minutes. To make the crepes, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add about 1/2 tbsp of butter, and coat the inside of the pan. If there is any melted butter pooling in the pan, discard it before adding the batter, or else you're first crepe will end up greasy (believe me).

Add a small amount of batter ( several tablespoons ) of the pan, and swirl the pan around to coat the bottom of the pan with the batter. Let cook for 45 seconds to 1 minutes. Flip the crepe, and cook for another 30 seconds. 

For the filling, dice the tomatoes into cubes, and place into a small bowl. Chop the basil and add to the bowl with the feta and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir to combine, and use as filling for cooked crepes.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Ratio Rally: Gluten Free Brownie Crepes with Strawberry Sauce


Hey everyone! Its the first Wednesday of the month, and time for the Gluten Free Ratio Rally! This month I had the chance to host, and I was excited to have the theme of Crepes! Back when I went to school in Charlottesville (before going gluten-free), there was this one hole in the wall restaurant that served some of the best crepes I ever had. Because of this, I now associate crepes with college memories of some of my closest friends. That's why I was pleased to come up with a variety of savory and sweet gluten free crepes.
For those who are new to the Gluten Free Ratio Rally, its an initiative that a group of gluten free bloggers started last year. Each month we take a recipe normally made with wheat or other glutenous materials and make it gluten free, based on a simple ratio of weights. If the concept sounds interesting and you would like to join, please contact through my Twitter or contact page. The ratio that I used for my crepes is:

1:2:2
flour : liquid : egg

After some experimentation, I settled on a flour mix of potato and tapioca flours. I found that I had a great texture that didn't easily fall apart. Many other bloggers found great success in buckwheat mixes, so be sure to check all of the recipes. 
The most difficult part for me was the baking of the crepes. I own stainless steel pans, so I tried the following combinations:

Using a smaller 4-5″ pan with vegetable oil or butter
Using a 8″ pan with vegetable oil or butter.
From what I found with cooking them, I had the best results baking them in a smaller, 4 or 5″ pan using butter over medium heat. In this size pan I was able to get about 4 crepes out of 1/2 a cup of batter. I ended up on this baking method for 2 reasons:
- with the 4″ pan I had a more evenly baked crepe. With a larger pan the resulting crepes were slightly burnt of the outside and not totally done on the inside. Which goes to reason #2….
- with the 4″ pan I had a much easier time not breaking or ripping my crepe. With a larger pan I was only able to get one, non broken crepe out of 4, while I had a 4 for 4 success rate with the smaller pan.
Another useful tip: let you crepe batter sit 30 minutes before baking them, you'll end up with much better crepes.

Please be sure to check out all of our awesome bloggers and their recipes:

Adina ~ Gluten Free Travelette ~ Breakfast Crepes Three Ways
Caitlin ~ {Gluten-Free} Nom Nom Nom ~ Buckwheat Crepes
Caleigh ~ Gluten Free[k] ~ Banana Cinnamon Crepes
Claire ~ My Gluten Free Home ~ Victory Crepe Cake 
Ginger  ~ Fresh Ginger ~ Sweet 'n Savory
gretchen ~ kumquat ~ nutella crepe cake
Heather ~ Discovering the Extraordinary ~ "Southwestern" Crepes
Karen ~ Cooking Gluten-Free! ~ Gluten Free Crepes Savory or Sweet
Mary Fran ~ FrannyCakes ~ Gluten-free Peanut Butter Crepe Cake
Mary Fran ~ FrannyCakes ~ Gluten-Free Vanilla Bean Crêpes Sucrées
Morri  ~  Meals with Morri ~ Russian Blini for Two
Pete and Kelli ~ No Gluten, No Problem ~ Key Lime Crepes
Shauna ~ gluten-free girl ~ Gluten Free Buckwheat Crepes
T.R. ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ Brownie Crepes with Strawberry Wine sauce
T.R. ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ Basil Tomato and Feta Crepes
T.R. ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ Fresh Fruit Crepe
Tara ~ A Baking Life ~ Breakfast Crepes with Eggs and Kale
Jonathan ~ The Canary Files ~ Vegan Crepes for Filipino Spring Rolls
Rachel ~ The Crispy Cook ~ Raspberries and Cream Crepes
~Mrs. R ~ Honey From Flinty Rocks ~ Crepes - Spinach & Dessert



Brownie Crepes with Strawberry Wine Sauce
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 1 -2 minutes per crepe
Serves: 4 crepes

Ingredients:
Crepes
50g egg (~1 large egg)
50g milk
2 tsp vanilla
10g tapioca flour
15g potato starch

Sauce
10 sliced strawberries
3 tbsp white wine
1 tsp lemon juice

1-2 gluten free brownies, cubed
whipped cream

Steps
Whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Whisk in the flour and starch. Set aside for 30 minutes.

To make the sauce, in a small sauce pan, combine the berries, wine, and juice, and simmer over medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes, or until the berries are soft and the wine has become a vibrant red from the berries.

To make the crepes, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add about 1/2 tbsp of butter, and coat the inside of the pan. If there is any melted butter pooling in the pan, discard it before adding the batter, or else you're first crepe will end up greasy (believe me).

Add a small amount of batter ( several tablespoons ) of the pan, and swirl the pan around to coat the bottom of the pan with the batter. Let cook for 45 seconds to 1 minutes. Flip the crepe, and cook for another 30 seconds. 

Fill the crepe with brownies and strawberry sauce, and top with the whipped cream. Enjoy!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Greenslove: Gluten Free Balsamic Arugula Salad


Hey everyone! I've had a fairly busy past month with all things work and life related, but I'm excited to be ramping my blogging up again, starting with #greenslove. I became overly excited with the theme of greens this month when I walked into my local Whole Foods and saw all the amazing, colorful, fresh produce.

There's already an amazing amount of green recipes thus far, and I'm excited to share my first of the month, an Arugula salad interlaced with bell pepper, topped with london broil, feta cheese, fresh herbs, and a balsamic dressing. I just love the combo of the bitter greens, the richness of the beef, the saltiness of the feta, and the sweet addition of balsamic.
Its a great recipe to use if you have left over london broil, and if not it can easily be substituted with leftover chicken.

Thank you to all of the wonderful co-hosts for this month's #greenslove!

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen  

And be sure to check everyone's post on the bloghop! And feel free to add your own green recipes as well!



Gluten Free Arugula Salad with London Broil & Balsamic Dressing
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 1

Ingredients
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder

2-3 handfuls of baby arugula and frisee
1/4 bell pepper
3-4 thin slices (as thin as you can get!) of london broil
sprinkle of feta cheese
2 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
dash pepper


Steps
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, garlic, and onion powder until well combined. Set aside.

Thinly slice the bell pepper into strips. In a single serving bowl or plate, mix together the argulua and bell pepper. Fold the london broil and layer on top of the salad. Sprinkle the top with the feta and thyme leaves. Add a dash of pepper, and hooray! A quick, single serving salad for a dinner or lunch.