Gluten Free Garlic Infused Squash

This past weekend, one of my college friends was in town and we made dinner one of the nights they were here. We split a top sirloin steak cooked with a simple rub, along with some garlic infused squash. It's a really simple dish, but super delicious. By browning the garlic in oil before adding the squash, it infused the scent and subtle garlic flavor throughout. I hope you enjoy this recipe, it's quick, easy, and tasty!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:


1 zucchini
1 squash
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper

Steps
Rinse the zucchini and squash. Cut the ends off of the zucchini and the squash. Slice one edge of the zucchini length-wise so that you can set the cut side down and the zucchini will not roll around. The benefit of doing this is you can cut the squash into strips without it rolling around. Cut the zucchini length wise, about 1/8 inch thick. Do the same with the squash. Set both aside.

Preheat a saute pan over medium low heat. Mince the garlic, and add the oil and garlic to the pan. Cook until the garlic is slightly browned. Add the zucchini and squash, along with a dash of salt and pepper. Stir occasionally, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until tender.

Pamela's Pancake Mix Review

Recently I went to a Gluten Free Expo in Washington, D.C. A representative from Pamela's was there, and I remembered Olinda Paul recommending Pamela's products to me in a recent Google+ hangout we had. I picked up a sample of the pancake mix to try it out.

There is a wide blend of starches in the mix, various rice flours, almond meal, and potato starch. The only added ingredients needed were egg, water, and oil, makes for a really easy set of instructions. When baking, the batter holds well, and bakes into a great texture. The pancakes had a great, golden crust, and inside is a tender, warm cake.

I totally recommend Pamela's. I plan on using more, and recommend that you try it too as well.

Gluten Free Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Hey everyone, hope you're having an enjoyable weekend! One of my college friends is in town this weekend, so we've been having fun exploring museums and the beautiful D.C. weather. Halfway through the day, we decided we wanted ice cream, and we both agreed on cookies and cream. To make it gluten free, I recommend using a gluten free vanilla extract, and gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies. I've had the best result using Glutino brand chocolate sandwich cookies. The texture is able to hold up well when mixed into ice cream. Enjoy!

Prep Time:
10 minutes active,
2 hours 30 minutes inactive
Servings: About 6 1/2 cup servings


Ingredients:
1 cup 2% milk, chilled 
3/4 cup granulated sugar 
2 tbsp vanilla extract 
2 cups heavy cream, chilled 
6 Glutino chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed.
(Additional cookies for garnish or making sandwiches)


Steps
In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, sugar, and vanilla for about 2 minutes, or until sugar has mostly dissolved.

Whisk in the cream until combined, then pour into the ice cream maker. Let it run for about 25 minutes, or until ice cream is creamy and about 5 minutes away from being completely frozen or set. Add the cookies to the ice cream, and let churn for an additional 5 minutes.

Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, and place in the freezer for about 2 hours. At the end of the two hours, the ice cream will be ready to serve.

Garnish the top with additionally broken cookies. Alternatively, remove the filling from the center of a sandwich, and replace with ice cream for miniature ice cream sandwiches. 

Recommended Recipe: Alton Brown's Marshmallows

 Hi all!

My friends and I made some marshmallows a while back, and followed this recipe from Alton Brown. I definitely recommend it, and it's easy to make gluten free. Here's a few tips that I want to share:

• This is an easy dessert to make gluten free. You just have to check the packaging on some of the ingredients. Be sure to use gluten free vanilla, corn sryup, and corn starch. Research which brands are safe. I recently received a copy of Triumph Dining's The Essential Gluten-Free Grocery Guide, so I'm using that as a reference. I'll write more on their product in a later post. 
• Some Gluten Free Corn Syrup Brands: Brer Rabbit, Crosby's, Karo
• Some Gluten Free Vanilla Extracts: Best Choice, Sauer's, Simply Organic
• Some Gluten Free Corn Starches: Argo, Bob's Red Mill
• Be sure to store these in an air tight container the moment after you make them (or arrange them into a bowl for photographs) so that they don't go stale.

I hope you enjoy! If I have success I'll share a recipe for some gluten free graham crackers in the next few weeks. (Potentially) perfect for smores!

Gluten Free Asian Pork Tenderloin

These caramelized end pieces? Oh man are they my favorite.

In trying to be responsible with the money I earn and save, I budget and plan my various expenses. The end goal is to see where I think I may be spending a little too much money, and try to optimize costs for the same, if not better, value. (Yes, I know I used the word optimize. What can I say, I'm a software engineer. It's hard coded in me to try to optimize and fix things.) That's why I love making meals on a Sunday and saving them for busy days where it's hard to make a lunch or dinner, or when I'm flat out exhausted. I plan on posting some money-saving food tips during the summer, along with easy, affordable recipes that can be stretched over a couple days.

Here's a really easy recipe for an Asian-inspired pork tenderloin. All you have to do is make the marinade, let it refrigerate for a couple hours, and cook it! By searing the outside of the meat on a hot skillet before placing in the oven, you'll get a salty, caramelized outside, and tender pork on the inside. Super easy and delicious. I like to use fresh onions, garlic, and spices to add flavor to the pork tenderloin.

Active Prep Time: 10 minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 4 hours

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb pork tenderloin

1 cup gluten free soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp curry

2 tsp thyme

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 tsp ground pepper

Steps

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the tenderloin. Pour into a pan 1-2 inches taller than the tenderloin, and add the tenderloin. You'll want to try to submerge as much of the pork into the marinade as possible. Seal with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tbsp olive oil to the skillet. Remove the meat from the marinade, and cook over the skillet, flipping every 3-4 minutes. Once all sides are browned, transfer to a baking pan and insert into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pork reaches 140-145F internal temperature. Remove from oven, and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Summer Time Celiac: Gluten Free Grilling and Cookout Safety

Good day to you.  We, TR Crumbley and GFDougie are collaborating on a joint blog post in regard to summer grilling and cookouts with safety and health in mind for you, the gluten sensitive and celiac survivor.  We hope you find this information beneficial for your own social summer cookout event or in attending another’s as a guest.

Memorial Day has just passed a few weeks ago, ushering in the beginning of summer.  The incoming summer season brings all the fun, classic outdoor activities we all love; amongst them outdoor grilling and the equally important side dishes at these cookouts.

Those of us with gluten sensitivity or surviving with celiac may assume that grilled foods are easily gluten free.  However, the possibilities of cross contamination exist even when cooking on a hot grill.  For those of you who may not know, cross contamination is the instance where gluten free food is exposed to gluten through actions such as cooking on the same surface of or using the same utensils on foods containing gluten.

Today we want to share some practical tips to help minimize the risk of cross contamination while enjoying the experience of a great summer grill and the neighborhood cookout for you, glutenfree.   Social outings such as these for those of you with gluten sensitivity and celiac survival needs will make such outings easier for all of us; that said here are some tips to live by:

(Note:  Even taking these precautions does not guarantee 100% prevention of cross contamination. Always be cautious and aware when cooking in the presence of gluten.)

1. On a day before you attend the cookout, please talk to the hosts and let them know you’ll need to eat gluten free and let them know why.  Depending on how comfortable you are with the hosts, and how knowledgeable they are of your gluten sensitivity or celiac survival needs, be sure to have a detailed dialogue so the hosts knows of your food restrictions.  They may be even flexible enough to use a dedicated grilling surface just for you, glutenfree.

2. Clean the grill or have the hosts clean the grill thoroughly before cooking.  By having the grill cleaned beforehand, you’ll reduce any amount of any residual gluten from the cooking surface and reduce gluten cross contamination chances.

3. On the day of the cookout, do not assume your hosts remember everything about gluten cross contamination.  Provide your hosts with a friendly reminder to dedicate a portion of the grill for gluten free grilling or have them cook your foods first.
4. Wrap your food to reduce the risk of gluten contamination.  For food such as corn-on-the-cob that can be cooked while wrapped, wrap the food in aluminum foil and then cook on the grill. You’ll get that same grilled flavor without any potential cross contamination of gluten.

5. Keep cooking and serving utensils and serving platters separate for glutenfree.  By doing so, gluten can’t cross contaminate from one food to another.

What about the side dishes, gluten free, at the cookout for the gluten sensitive and the celiac survivor?  Baked beans via @SimplyGlutenFre, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Creamy Broccoli and Carrot Slaw via @Yummly, and   Three Bean Salad are some of the many comforting dishes you can easily make gluten free.  Other gluten free suggestions are gluten free chips and salsa or dip.  Be as creative as your wallet and mind will allow you to be.

In closing, we think education and dialogue are important tools in regard to the gluten sensitive and celiac survivor in having a positive experience at the grill and neighborhood cookout this summer.  With a little preparation and communication, a gluten free and cross contamination free cookout can be enjoyed by you.

Research, educate, and advocate all celiac and gluten free this summer.

Peace be with you.

TR Crumbley and Dougie

Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Orange Ice Cream

Hey everyone! Yesterday some of my friends and I wanted to make some fresh ice cream, so here's the recipe we came up with! It's a creamy, smooth dark chocolate ice cream that's infused with orange zest. I don't know quite what it is, but the combination of dark chocolate and citrus is such a euphoric, blissful flavor marriage that one spoonful makes all your troubles just melt away into the comfortable warmth of summer. Yum. This recipe's added bonus is that most ice creams have to ripen (freeze for an additional 2 hours after churning) in order to achieve a smooth texture that doesn't melt in 2 second flat. This recipe was able to stay chilled at a good texture immediately after churning.

Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes to chill, optional 2 hours to ripen
Active Prep Time: 10 minutes
Churn Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup 2% milk
6 oz 100% dark chocolate
1/2 cup sugar
1 pint chilled heavy cream
zest of 2 oranges

Steps
Over medium low heat, warm the milk in a saucepan. Break the chocolate into pieces, and add with the sugar into the milk. Continue stirring chocolate, sugar, and milk over medium low heat until the chocolate is completely melted. Transfer to a small bowl, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the heavy cream to a large bowl, and whisk in the chocolate milk. Add the zest and whisk until combined. Add to the ice cream maker, and churn for about 20-30 minutes, until the ice cream is smooth and creamy.

Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container for 2 hours in the freezer before serving.

Ratio Rally: Gluten Free White Bread

This month's Ratio Rally is bread! Gluten free bread, one of the hardest baked goods to produce gluten free. I've had many attempts in the past few years to make a good gluten free bread with a comparable texture and crust to wheat bread. This recipe is the closest thing that I've made to conventional wheat bread. Thank you to Karen for hosting this month, and being so helpful in this recipe! Check her post here. Now, onto the ratio:

5:3

flour:water

(and yeast)

Now this ratio may seem really simple, but don't be fooled. The types of gluten free starches use can definitely affect the texture. For example, use primarily potato starch, and you'll end up with a heavier, dense bread. A good gluten free flour blend for bread will need a mix of heavy and lighter starches.

For this recipe, I decided to use a blend of sweet rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, and millet flour. I also normally try to avoid xantham gum for my ratio rally posts, but I decided to include it in this recipe for some added structure since I've had difficulty with breads in the past.

Onto my tips/lessons learned from the ratio rally this month. Here's the three big ones:
1. Don't worry about kneading gluten free bread dough. In practically any traditional bread recipe, the instructions will guide you to knead your dough. Don't worry about it for gluten free bread...it's practically impossible to do, and all I've ever ended up with is a texturally tough dough after adding all the starch needed for it to hold some form during kneading.
2. Eggs are your friends. Eggs can work wonders in lightening up sandwich bread, it works wonders to aerate the dough.
3. Steam in an oven = CRUST. If you bake your bread in an environment where it's exposed to steam, it will produce a lovely, mouth-watering golden crust. I don't fully understand the science behind why, but believe me, steam works all sorts of wonders. I detail this in the recipe, but you can produce this by placing a pan in the oven while it preheats, and then add water to the pan when you put the dough into the oven to bake.

Also, in some of these pictures, you'll see that I've added some toppings. Before placing the small rolls in the oven, I sprinkled some herbs such as thyme, oregano, and basil on top for a aromatic topping. Feel free to experiment will all sorts of toppings to find your favorite. Also, for the recipe behind the french toast pictured above, check out my recipe that I posted last week, here.

Be sure to check everyone's recipes below!

~Aunt Mae (aka ~Mrs. R) | Honey From Flinty Rocks | Millet Chia Bread & Variations
Adina | Gluten Free Travelette | Seedy Sandwich Bread
Angela | Angela's Kitchen Our Family's Basic |  Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread
Brooke | B & the boy! | Buckwheat-Oat Bread
Charissa | Zest Bakery | Cherry Pecan Pot Bread, Gluten Free
Claire | This Gluten-Free Life | German Vollkornbrot (Seeded Bread)
Erin | The Sensitive Epicure | English Sandwich Bread (gluten-free & egg-free)
Jenn | Jenn Cuisine | Gluten Free Boule
Jonathan | The Canary Files | Gluten-Free, Vegan Mediterranean Soda Bread
Karen | Cooking Gluten Free | Gluten Free Sandwich Bread and Gluten Free Naan
Meaghan | The Wicked Good Vegan | Vegan Gluten-Free Bread
Meg | Gluten-Free Boulangerie | Ciabatta (gluten-free, egg-free/vegan)
Monika | Chew on This! | amaranth skillet flatbreads, amaranth mini pita rounds
Morri | Meals with Morri | No Knead Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Flatbread (yeast free & grain free) 
Pete & Kelli | No Gluten, No Problem | Gluten-Free Challah
Rachel / The Crispy Cook  | Gluten Free Chickpea Sandwich Bread
Tara | A Baking Life | Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread & Boule


Gluten Free White Bread

Active Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours
Bake Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients
12 oz warm water
1 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp honey

7 oz sweet white rice flour
5 oz potato starch
5 oz tapioca flour
3 oz millet flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp xantham gum

Steps
In a medium bowl, combine the water, yeast, and salt. Let sit for 5 minutes.

To the water, whisk in the eggs, oil, and honey. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients until well combined. Tightly cover with plastic wrap, and cover with a towel. Let sit for 3 hours. Expect the following before and after in terms of rising volume:

Distribute the dough into a greased bread pan, and cover again. Place a pan with about 1 inch height into the lower rack of an oven, and preheat to 450F. Once preheated, place the bread in the oven, and about 1 cup water into the pan on the lower rack. Close the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 450F. Reduce the temperature to 375F, and bake for another 45 minutes.

Enjoy, and be sure to consume the bread within 2 days or else it will go stale. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

Icecreamlove: Gluten Free Spiced Ice Cream

It's June, and time to celebrate our love for ice cream! The food-love bloghop I've co-hosted the past couple months decided to share ice cream recipes this month! Super exciting and just in time for summer!

One thing I love about ice cream is that it is super easy to make gluten free. There's occasionally some ingredients to worry about (I'm looking at you gluten-ified brands of vanilla extract...you tricky devils, you), but other than that it is the dessert that gluten-free folks dream of.

I've made various ice creams and sorbets in the past (I'm looking at you Hazelnut Ice Cream Waffle and Lemon Mint Sorbet), and am looking forward to all the creations this month. My first #icecreamlove recipe is inspired by pumpkin pie. This recipe doesn't include any pumpkin puree, but is packed with all the spices that go in it. Combined with the vanilla in the ice cream, this ice cream almost tastes like it should be in a pie....mmmmm.

Thank you to all of the other co-hosts this month, listed below:
AstigVegan; Baker Street; Cakeballs, cookies and more; Cheap Ethnic Eatz; Georgiecakes; Hobby and More; Mis Pensamientos; No One Likes Crumbley Cookies; Pippi's In The Kitchen Again; Queen’s Notebook; Rico sin Azucar; Simply Reem; That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!; The Spicy RD; Vegetarian Mamma; You Made That?; BigFatBaker; Bon a croquer; Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves; Soni’s Food for Thought


If you would like to join us for #icecreamlove, just add your ice cream recipe to the link tool below in the month of June or July! Be sure to check below the link tool for my recipe!

Gluten Free Spiced Ice Cream

Prep: 5 minutes
Chill Time: 25 minutes

1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg

Steps


1. Whisk the sugar into the milk in a medium bowl until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Whisk in the vanilla, cream, and spices until well combined.

3. Pour the mix into your prepared ice cream maker, and freeze for about 25 minutes.

4. You can eat the ice cream now if you're impatient like me, but if you'd like a well set ice cream that doesn't melt as quickly, transfer the ice cream to an air-tight container (can't stress the air-tight part enough) to set for 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free French Toast

For the past few years, I've been trying to make a gluten free bread with a texture and taste that I actually enjoy. Believe me, if you haven't made gluten free bread before, it is definitely a hard recipe to perfect. This past weekend though, I made the best gluten free bread I've made so far, so I decided to make a simple french toast for breakfast one morning. Its super tasty, and super easy to make! I've tried making it before with store-bought gluten-free bread, but nothing compares to a fresh loaf...

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Servings:  4 slices

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
4 slices gluten free bread
1 tbsp butter

Steps
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Pour into a shallow pan. Place the four pieces of bread into  the mix, and then flip over and let soak in the egg mix while preheating a pan.

Place a skillet onto the stove over medium low heat, and add the butter. Once the butter has melted and the pan is hot, drain each piece of bread of any excess egg, and then place onto the skillet. Cook on each side from 2-3 minutes, until the egg coating is browned on each side. Serve with powdered sugar and enjoy!