Gluten Free Crepes :)

Whenever someone says to me, "OH MY GOD I could never eliminate wheat from my diet, what do you eat????" I laugh, and reply, "Anything I want! We've got recipes for just about anything you could possibly want without wheat that are just as good, and sometimes better!"
I can tell you that I was that person, when I first started going gluten free that couldn't figure out what I'd eat, but now after 2 or 3 years of being gluten free I have no cravings, misgivings or regrets about being gluten free. It's one of the best things I've ever done for myself, and I encourage everyone I talk to that has food coma, bad pms, and digestive issues, among other things, to consider it and to let me know if they want help trying to make the transition. You don't have to go it alone at the beginning like I did. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. The recipes are here, or at least on my computer, and I'm happy to send them along with ideas and I'm happy to offer support any way I can.

This morning we made gluten free crepes, both savory and sweet. I devoured the savory one before I remembered to take a pic, but here's one for the sweet, which was much prettier, anyway ;-)

And here's the recipe:
1 C rice flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Mix together and set aside

1 C milk (whatever kind you drink, dairy or non)
1/2 C water
2 tsp butter, melted
2 eggs
mix together in blender, add dry ingredients, blend til smooth

Cover and chill for 1 hour

Heat an 8-inch non stick crepe pan or skillet over medium heat.
Pour a scant 1/4 c of batter in the pan, swirl immediately so batters covers the entire pan with a thin film. Cook about 1 minute. Carefully lift the edge of the crepe with a rubber spatula to test for doneness. The crepe is ready to turn when it can be shaken loose from the pan and the underside is lightly browned. Turn crepe over and cook 30 seconds or until center is set.

This recipe was adapted from, "Cooking Light Way To Cook: The Complete Visual Guide to Everyday Cooking" 2009 Oxmoor House Inc, cookinglight.com
The website has crepe making tips and tricks if you've never made them.

For the filling we did 2. The first was savory:
Saute a yellow onion, add ground turkey breakfast sausage-cook til nearly done, scramble eggs, add some milk of your choice-set aside, add sliced/chopped mushrooms to your onions and sausage-cook til the shrooms are soft, add the egg goo-cook til done. Add the whole steaming mixture to the top of warm crepe-Mmmmmm

The second was sweet.
Melt some dark chocolate and grind or have purchase some ground almonds or other nut of your choice.
Fresh ground almond bits mixed with cream cheese, dolloped on a warm crepe, add fresh raspberries, and drizzle with freshly melted chocolate. Try not to drool on yourself.

PIZZA!!!

I don't remember where I found this recipe, originally, but I'm eternally gratefull to whomever came up with it!!!

I get thumbs up all around the table from adults and teens alike on this one at home and on the college campus. Even those that aren't Gluten Free love it!

Here's the recipe
GF Pizza Crust-makes 2 personal size crusts. It's a very forgiving recipe. I made 5X the recipe in the college kitchen w/in-exact measurements and it came out great!

3/4 C arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1/2 C brown basmati flour
2/3 C Teff flour (or flax meal)
1 tsp Xanthan gum (I think I'll add another 1/2 tsp when I do it again)
1 tsp salt
Mix all that together in an electric mixer, if you have one. If you don't make sure you add the xanthan gum last as it makes the dough very stiff.

In a small saucepan heat to 105-115 degrees:
1/2 C milk (I used Rice, Almond works too)
1/4 C water
Add yeast and sugar when the liquid gets to the right temp
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 tsp sugar
Add this to the dry, mix on medium

Add to the mix:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 well beaten egg whites

Mix everything for about 5 minutes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Line a large baking sheet w/parchment and spritz w/oil. This dough is super sticky and the oil really helps being able to handle the dough later.

Get your hands wet. When they get the slightest bit sticky wash them off. Wet, clean hands makes handling GF dough MUCH easier.

Split the dough into 2 balls and pat into circles about 1/4" thick on your parchment pan.

Spritz the top of the dough w/more oil and cover loosely w/plastic wrap. Set aside to rise for at least 20 minutes.

I like to bake right on the pan that the dough raised on.

Bake 5-10 minutes (I did 8 at a mile high, and it could have been in a smidge longer)

Top your pizza and broil til golden brown and sizzly :-D

Your Favorite Brownies! Gluten Free!

Discovering this recipe and then adapting it with flours that work for me was a major boon early on in my motivation to learn more GF baking recipes. It's so good, my friends that are not gluten free ask me to make it for them!
ETA: 3/26/11 As of this week I've taken down the brownie recipe as I'm now taking orders through our local CSA for gluten free baked goods & mixes. Orders and baked goods may also be available this summer through our Farmer's Market. The brownies specifically are also available for purchase at the Prescott Public Library-Cafe Libre as well as the Prescott College Crossroads Cafe. If you're not local to Prescott, AZ. please contact me for more information on the products available for order. I'm happy to ship :-)  

Lots of new favorite GF Recipes!!!

Last night's GF experiment was an amazingly delicious success, as they've all been lately ;-)
Here's the link for classic lemon bars. Since nothing has to rise, just subbing rice flour for all the flour in the recipe works great!

 

Try not to drool on your keyboard, ok?

One note on the recipe... The crust baking time only took us here, at a mile high, 13 minutes, not the 30-35 minutes stated in the recipe. 

We also made Orange Bars! Same recipe, just subbed oranges for the lemons and they were delish as well, though the flavor is more subtle. We think next time we might include a smidge of orange extract (maybe 1/4-1/2 a tsp...?) to give the flavor a little boost.

Coming soon.... Pizza crust, brownies, cookies, chocolate chip banana bread...