Old Fashioned Country Biscuits

For the lightest biscuits, the less you handle the dough, the better. A delicious country classic; like mom used to make!

2 cups GF flour blend, plus 1 T. extra for dusting

1/2 t. salt

4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

2 T. butter, chilled and chopped into pieces

2 T. coconut oil, chilled

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

Preheat oven to 450˚F.

Combine all dry ingredients and whisk together. Add the butter and coconut oil and work into the dry ingredients quickly, using a pastry cutter or fork. Do not allow the fat to melt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until the dough forms a soft, moist glob. It should be sticky. But it still needs to have enough body to be able to form a very soft dough that you can cut into loose biscuits. We are not making hockey pucks here!

Plop the ball of dough onto a tea towel that has been dusted with the extra flour. With floured hands, very gently knead the dough 4 or 5 times and gently pat down  into a mound that is about 1 1/2 inches thick. Again, do not overwork the dough!

Cut biscuits with a floured drinking glass or 2.5 to 3 inch biscuit cutter and  arrange them, touching each other, in an unbuttered cake or pie pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden and flakey (not doughy) when pulled apart. They should read around 205˚F on an instant read

thermometer.

Makes: Eight biscuits.

Notes: For a shortcake biscuit to be used with berries and as dessert, add a

little extra sugar to the recipe and sprinkle extra sugar on top of the

biscuits just before baking.

This recipe is from the cookbook: "The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free."

To watch a slide show "tour" of book click this link~

Herb-Crusted Baked Chicken

I have to admit that taking a picture of chicken legs was probably one of the most difficult things that I have ever photographed. No way does the picture do these drumsticks justice! 

That said, keep an open mind here. 

Whether it's with summer barbeques and picnics or when a cold winter day dictates having comfort food, this recipe is one of my favorites. Chicken is always the star for me. I am a self-professed "chick-a-holic".

And when I think of baked chicken,  this is my favorite recipe from over the years. Nutty, yummy, low carb baked chicken breading that is crunchy, savory...with an herb-packed punch!

Adapted GF from Nancy W. in Banning, Ca, and her wonderful 1980’s recipe. This is based on an herb-crusted baked chicken served at Whole Earth Restaurant in Santa Cruz, Ca.

3 pounds of chicken thighs or drumsticks

¾ cup of buttermilk or ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon tossed with ¼ cup olive oil

1 T. salt

1 cup almond meal*

1 cup GF bread crumbs**

½ cup corn meal

½ cup Parmesan, grated

1 T. smoked paprika, 1 t. garlic powder, 1 t. onion powder, ½ t. sea salt (optional), 2 t. dried thyme, 2 t. dried rosemary,

Soak chicken pieces in the buttermilk-salt or lemon-olive oil-salt mixture for several hours or over night. Toss the crumb coating ingredients and spices together and refrigerate until ready to prepare chicken.

Preheat oven to 325˚F. When ready to bake, pull the chicken from the liquid marinade, and dip chicken into the crumb mixture and coat well. Bake on an oiled cookie sheet for an hour or until meat near the bone is no longer pink.

Makes: 4-6 servings.

Notes: *Ground almond meal is available and inexpensive at Trader Joe’s markets. **Make your bread baking “rejects” into crumbs and place in the freezer and save for breading for dishes like this.

For recipes from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking. It is available at:   http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

 

Pumpkin Pie Dip recipe

Dip apples and crunchy GF ginger snaps in this creamy dip for a memorable Fall treat! Great served with my molasses cookie recipe in this blog!

8 ounce package LF cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup GF powdered sugar (or substitute stevia to taste)

15 ounce can pumpkin

1 T. ground cinnamon

1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. ground ginger

1 T. Grand Marnier, optional
1 cup plain  non-fat Greek yogurt
Ground cinnamon for dusting

In food processor, blend cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Blend in the pumpkin, spices, and liquor. Fold in the yogurt.

Chill until ready to serve. Dust top of dip with cinnamon. 

Serve on a platter with apples and gluten free ginger snaps; Enjoy!

Makes: About four cups of dip. 

This recipe is from the cookbook: "The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free."
To see a Youtube slide show "tour" of the cookbook, click on this link:

 

And the winner is....!

And the winner of the drawing for my free cookbook is Theresa Gates!

Theresa Gates, who harkens from Eagle River, Arkansas, was drawn out of all the voting submissions. A personally autographed edition of my cookbook goes out to her this week! Theresa is not the only member of her family with celiac. Her daughter and son have the disease as well.  

While Theresa’s personal favorite in the voting was my previous cookbook cover, the overwhelming majority of voters who sent in their opinions for the drawing chose my new vintage-looking cookbook cover and title: “The Farmer’s Daughter Cooks Gluten Free.” This week, the new title and cover will become available at my website along with the already existing older cover and title: “Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking”, so watch for it.

 Thanks again to everyone who took the time to send me their thoughts and input on both cookbook covers. Your feedback was much appreciated! 

And a special thanks to Topper, my lab, for carefully picking Theresa’s name from the batch of names for the drawing. She did good (GOOD dog!) and received a Three Dog Bakery carob “oreo” cookie for doing her job so well as my assistant!

Win a Free Cookbook! Vote for your Favorite!

My NEW Farmer's Daughter title and vintage look cookbook front and back cover. Vote for your favorite cover and title.Win my cookbook valued at $13.95!

Just let me know if you like the old cover or the new (Farmer's Daughter) cover and why. (The cook book remains the same on the inside, it's just the cover and title that are changing!)

The current cookbook cover is shown at the left in this blog.

Contact me at celiacdiseaseinfo@gmail.com to vote or give your feedback. Leave your contact info and we will put your email into a drawing. Voting is taking place from 1/5/12 to 1/19/12. Drawing will be 1/20/12.

Good luck to all you foodies! Let us hear from you!

(front cover) 

(back cover)

Best Applesauce Cake

This very low sugar version of applesauce cake is wonderful dusted with just a little powdered sugar! The applesauce that I used was home made using my neighbor’s apples from their orchard.

1¾ cup gluten free flour blend

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

½ t. ground nutmeg

½ t. ground cloves

½ t. salt

2 eggs

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

½ cup coconut* or regular sugar

¼ cup honey

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

½ cup raisins

½ cup nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spray an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with GF cooking spray.

Sift together dry ingredients, spices, and salt.

In separate bowl, beat the eggs until light and frothy. Add the butter. Add the sugar and honey and mix well. Add the applesauce, raisins, and nuts.

Mix the flour mixture with the egg mixture and do not over blend.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Slice to serve.

Makes: One loaf.

Notes: *I use coconut sugar due to its low glycemic index. It has a caramel like flavor.

This recipe is from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking. It is available at:   

http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

http://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Cooking-Collection-Celiacs-Sensitive/dp/0615305709/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282852260&sr=1-

Lavender Cupcakes? (and gluten free!)

Lavender Cupcake with Goat Cheese Frosting

Both sweet and savory, these cupcakes are infused with fruit and just bit of lavender flowers from my flower garden. Perfect for a bridal shower or tea.

2¼ cups gluten free flour blend
1 ½ t. baking powder

Pinch of sea salt
1-1 ½ T. lavender flowers

2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup of sugar*
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted

¾ cup of rice, soy, or almond milk

1 t. GF vanilla extract

1 cup apples, finely chopped**

Frosting of choice***

Mix dry ingredients together. Fold in the lavender flowers. 

Beat eggs, then beat in the sugar until frothy. Beat the melted butter along with the milk and vanilla extract. Fold in the finely chopped apples.

Pipe or pour the batter into muffin tins that are lined with cupcake liners. bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cupcake.

Makes: Approximately 24 regular sized cupcakes, and 50 mini-cupcakes.

Notes: * I have challenges with sugar, so I used coconut sugar for a lower glycemic index. **Chopped pineapple works just fine in place of the apple, also.

***I used goat cheese (this was VERY good!). I mixed  8 ounces of goat cheese with just a little Greek yogurt and two tablespoons of butter. Add some vanilla and coconut sugar to sweeten it a bit, then  pipe it onto the cupcakes and sprinkle with a few more lavender flowers. :-) Regular cream cheese works fine, too.

This recipe is from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking. It is available at:   

http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

http://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Cooking-Collection-Celiacs-Sensitive/dp/0615305709/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282852260&sr=1-