Apple Crisp - gluten free

Apple Crisp – Gluten Free

350F 40 minutes

3 – 5 apples – enough to loosely fill 9x9 inch baking pan with room on top for topping

1 cup white sugar

¾ cup corn flour

1/3 cup butter

¼ cup water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Optional:

  Chopped almonds

  Dried cranberries

Wash and cut apples into small chunks.  I use a combination of Granny Smith with a sweet variety such as Fuji or Gala.  Any 'baking' or 'pie' variety works well such as Braeburn and Rome.  Delicious tend to cook up very soft. 

Place in 9x9 inch baking pan.

Add water to pan.

Sprinkle apples with salt and cinnamon

In separate bowl, rub sugar, flour and butter together until well blended.

Spread evenly over top of apples

Cook at 350F for 40 minutes

Options:

cover apples with chopped almonds &/or dried cranberries before covering with the sugar mix

GlØgg = Hot Spiced Wine

GlØgg

 

Tincture:

    10 grams [4.5 tsp] ground cloves

    10 grams [4.5 tsp] cardamom

    8 grams [5 tsp] ginger

    10 grams [5.5 tsp] ground cinnamon

    ½ vanilla bean, finely chopped

    4 – 5 TBLsp bitter orange peel OR 3 – 4 TBLsp dried orange peel

    Peel of one lemon, grated

    200 ml [3/4 – 1 cup] vodka

Hot Spiced Wine:

    400 grams white sugar

    1 L water

    1 bottle [750 ml] red wine – inexpensive works best

    1 bottle [750 ml] vodka

    ½ of clear tincture

    blanched almonds

    raisins

Make tincture one week to several months in advance. 

Use a glass jug, jar or bottle with a lid.  If I use a canning jar, I line the metal lid with waxed paper.

Put vodka in the jar.

Crush together the cloves, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and vanilla bean (or just measure into the jar.  Add to jar.

Boil orange peel in a small amount of water until soft.  Add to jar.

Add lemon peel.

Shake well.  Allow to steep for at least one week.  Shake well each day.  This will keep for a very long time.  Do not shake the day you will use it.

Hot Spiced Wine:

Boil sugar and water together until sugar is dissolved.

Cool and add wine and vodka.

Stir in clear tincture, with minimal amount of the muddy mixture.  If you make the tincture less than one week before you will use it, add the entire amount of the clear liquid but none of the mud.

Serve in small cups with a few almonds and raisins.

Pickled Green Beans

Pickled Green Beans

Green Beans are cold packed into the jars. 

They do not need to presoak in brine.

Pickles are processed with boiling water only, no pressure cooker is needed.

Equipment:

     Pot large enough to hold jars plus 1” of water at the top. 

     Canning jars – I generally use quarts but any size will work.

     Canning lids (new) and screw tops

Ingredients:

     Water

     White Vinegar

     Pickling Non-Iodized Salt (iodine adds a metallic taste)

     Fresh Hot Peppers

     Fresh Dill - seeds and weed ("leaves" are called dill weed)

     Fresh green beans - best to pick the beans early in the morning and pickle the same day

 

Make brine in the following ratio:

     3 cups water

     3 cups white vinegar

     2 TBLsp pickling salt

Heat pickling brine just to boil.  Keep warm.

Use exact measurements for the brine.  Too much or too little acid or salt can cause the beans to wrinkle or slough their outer skin.

 

Clean jars and lids.  Thoroughly wash in hot soapy water or run through a dishwasher.  
Inspect jars and lids.  Discard any jars that have chips or cracks.  Jars and screw bands can be reused but use only new sealing lids.

Pick and wash beans.  Break off stem end.

Pack warm jars very snugly with:

     1 or 2 peppers – whole or sliced

     1 or 2 sprigs of dill seed plus some feathery fronds, called 'dill weed'

     Beans – whole or in ~1” pieces

 

 The season for fresh dill is very short.  I harvest all our dill when the seeds are young before any bugs or diseases get to it.  I wash and trim the dill and freeze it until the bean harvest catches up.

Generally I half fill the jars with beans then put the peppers on the bottom before filling with beans and then put the dill on the top.  But it makes no difference to the pickles whatever order you put the ingredients into the jars.

Beans come in various sizes and shapes so I usually use several size jars - tall pints, short pints, 1.5 pints and quarts.  I lay out a couple handfuls of beans and place them in the jar size that fits them best.  

 

If you only have small jars, either trim the ends so the beans are shorter or cut/break them into pieces.

 

                   Fill jars to within ½ inch with warm brine.  
                   If the jars are not packed tightly, you'll need extra brine.

Wipe rim of jars with a clean, damp rag.
The rims must be completely clean so that the jar top seals well with the canning lid.

 Set clean, warm lid on and hold in place with a screw band.  Screw firmly but not tightly.

Place warm jars into canning pot.  If you do not have a jar rack, place several screw bands on the bottom of your pot for the jars to rest on.  If the jars are in direct contact with the metal pot bottom, they are more likely to break.

Cover the warm jars with warm water with 1” of water over the top of the jars.

Bring to a full boil and boil for 20 minutes.

Remove jars from the water and set on a towel or wood surface.  If you put the hot jars on a cold countertop, they might break.

Cool until room temperature.  Remove screw lids.

Test for seal.  The top of lid should be popped inwards and you should be able to lift the jar by grasping the sealing lid without it popping off. 

If any jar is not sealed, store the jar in the refrigerator and eat soon.

Wash all the jars and screw lids thoroughly with warm soapy water before storing.  This washing will make sure there is nothing organic near the seal that might support bacterial growth and interfere with the seal over time.  Screw lids are not needed for storing the jars. 

Label the jars with the date.  I use a sharpie on the lid.  Home processed foods generally should be eaten within one year.  Discard food that is older.

Gluten Free Flours and Other Ingredients

Gluten Free Flours and other Ingredients

BASIC GLUTEN FREE FLOUR MIX

    2 cups rice flour (white or brown)

    2/3 cup potato or corn starch

    1/3 cup tapioca starch

    2 tablespoons almond meal or almond flour 

BASIC GLUTEN FREE COOKIE FLOUR MIX

   1/2 cup oat flour

   1 cup rice flour (white, brown, or mix of the two)

   1/4 tapioca flour

   1/4 potato starch

   1/4 cup almond meal or almond flour

   1/4 cup sweet rice flour

CORN  FLOUR

Tastes like corn.  Cooks up dense so I usually mix 1 - 4 tablespoons of corn starch into a cup of corn flour.  I add 1/2 cup or so to a rice-based mix to alleviate some of the grittiness of rice flours

RICE  FLOUR

Not much flavor.  It has a grittiness and doesn’t work well by itself.  It is the basis for most Gluten-Free Flour Mixes. White rice and brown rice flours behave fairly similarly in recipes.

ALMOND FLOUR

Adds nut flavor to things.  No binding ability.  Contains a chemical element that is also found in wheat flour and will greatly enhance any non-wheat flour blend.  I always add 1 or 2 tablespoons to my GF blends.  It is the basis for my pie crusts.

XANTHAN  GUM

Xanthan Gum is from bacterial breakdown of different sugars.  It helps hold the baked goods together similar to what gluten does.  Without gluten, baked goods tend to crumble apart so much of gluten-free baking is about replacing the textural properties of the missing gluten.  Foods with a lot of gluten are very chewy, such as bagels.  Use approximately ¼ - ½ teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour depending on the food (more for pancakes & cookies, less for layer cakes, none for biscuits).    Too much xanthan gum will make the final product rubbery. Guar Gum is a legume based product so if you have trouble with soy and other legumes, avoid it.

 

SWEET RICE  FLOUR

This has a binding quality that is less chewy than tapioca.  For chewy things like cookies, I usually put in a couple tablespoons.

STARCHES

Mix potato or corn starch with denser flours like oat and corn to allow the baked good to rise better.

Potato Starch is very light and will make the final product less dense.

Corn Starch is not as light as potato and not as chewy as tapioca.

Tapioca Starch is more of a binder and will add a chewiness.

BUCKWHEAT FLOUR

This comes from a flower – not wheat.  No gluten.  Makes things rather heavy.  No binding ability, Used to add flavor to pancakes or muffins in small amounts – up to ¼ cup.

COCONUT FLOUR

Adds mild coconut flavor to things.  No binding ability.  I often add 1 or 2 tablespoons to cookies, muffins, coffee cakes, carrot cake, zucchini & banana breads, and such.

EGG  REPLACER

Can be used in place of eggs or as a texture enhancer for any gluten free flour blend.  It is mostly starch but adds some additional leavening and adhesive texture.

BANANAS

Hold things together well.  Good for coffee cakes, pancakes, muffins, zucchini bread, carrot cakes, etc.  Sometimes in cookies.  

 

SORGHUM FLOUR

Like Buckwheat, it is not suited for light things.  Has a distinct flavor.  Makes things rather heavy.  I don’t particularly like this and do not cook with this.

BEAN  FLOURS - Chickpea, Fava, etc.

I don’t eat legumes so you’ll not see these in my recipes.  Also, they have a very distinctive flavor.