Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Gluten-Free Cornbread Dressing


My mom’s stuffing is one of my favorite memories of childhood holidays. She always used bakery Italian bread, which she would pull apart into cubes. I have yet to find a suitable GF yeast bread replacement, so I have adapted her famous recipe to use cornbread.

When I was a child, we always used to add a small can of water chestnuts to this dressing. I think that at some point far back in my family tree, someone had seen a dressing recipe that called for chestnuts and, lacking those, they found a can of water chestnuts in the back of a cabinet, figured it was close enough, and went with it. We all loved it. However, many “outsiders” just can’t get used to the idea, so I didn’t list it here. If you aren’t opposed to the crunchy little chestnuts, I highly recommend them. Just add them to the mixing bowl along with the seasonings.

Other additions to this dressing include diced pepper (red and/or green), green chilies, chili powder, frozen corn, or dried cranberries. It is pretty adaptable to whatever stuffing additions you normally enjoy!

Just in case you were wondering: this is technically a dressing, not a stuffing, because it isn’t “stuffed” into the bird. It is cooked in a separate dish. If you intend to stuff your bird, omit the eggs.


Grease one casserole pan and set aside.

Prepare
1 recipe gluten-free cornbread

Break up the cornbread into cubes. Place in a large roasting pan and toast in a 400°F oven until golden brown. About 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown in a nonstick skillet over medium heat:
1 lb bulk mild sausage, breaking into small pieces with a mixing spoon.
1 large onion
2 ribs celery

When the sausage is cooked and the onions and celery are translucent, move them to a large mixing bowl.
Add the toasted bread cubes to the mixing bowl.

Chop
½ cup parsley leaves
1 small handful sage (optional)
1 tsp fresh or dried rosemary

Add the herbs to the stuffing mix
Season with
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste, depending on the saltiness of the broth you use)
½ tsp ground black pepper

Stir to mix.
Add
½ to 1 cup chicken or turkey stock or broth – just enough so that the stuffing sticks together, but not so much that it’s saturated and compressed.

For a firm stuffing, add
2 beaten eggs
Stir to mix

Transfer the mixture into the prepared casserole pan.
Bake at 350°F for about 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Homemade poultry stock


Today, I bought a rotisserie chicken solely for the carcass. I needed a stock for the stuffings and the gravies I will be making in the next few days (two Thanksgivings in two days!).

When I explained this at the dinner table, my son astutely asked, "Can't you just buy chicken stock at the store?"

To which I answered, well of course you can, but I enjoy making my own. I think the flavor is better, and I also like feeling like I have gotten everything I can out of that chicken and I know everything that went into my food.

A stock is also a great opportunity to use up kitchen odds and ends—you can throw a variety of treasures into the stockpot, like bits of Parmesan cheese, mushroom stems, tomato skins, celery leaves, and leftover bits of herbs.

When I was a kid, the ceremonial boiling of the turkey carcass was as much a part of the after-Thanksgiving ritual as napping on the sofa during football. In fact, the turkey stock was the backbone of one of our favorite leftover meals: turkey soup. I now make stock as often as my chicken supply permits, and I keep the liquid on hand for any kind of soup, stew, chili, or slow-cooker meal.

Just in case you don't have a long family tradition of homemade chicken stock, I am sharing mine with you. You can use this stock as a base for chicken soup, as the liquid for your stuffing, and for your gravies. I add no salt to mine, because some members of my household are very salt-sensitive. If you add salt to yours, use it sparingly. It is easy to add, but impossible to take out.


1 chicken or turkey carcass, picked clean.
(wait till the bird cools, carve off as much meat as you can with a knife, then remove the rest of the meat with your fingers. We usually serve the whole bird for dinner, then save the extra meat for salad, stir fry, sandwiches, and chili)

Place the bones in the bottom of a large stockpot on medium-high heat. Add

1 onion, quartered
2 ribs celery, sliced
4 carrots, sliced, or a handful of baby carrots
Add enough cold water to cover the solids. Bring water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer, so that the surface of the water is just barely bubbling.

Add
1 bay leaf
1 tsp crushed rosemary
4-8 black pepper corns or 1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano

Allow to simmer on low for 2-3 hours, until the bones are falling apart.

To strain:
Place a fine-mesh strainer or colander over a large storage bowl (something you can put a cover on and store in the refrigerator. Should be able to hold about 6-8 cups of liquid).
Place the storage bowl with the sieve on top in the sink.
Pour the stock into the sieve so that the liquid falls into the bowl. Stop pouring when most of the liquid is gone and the solids remain at the bottom of the pan. (You don’t need to pour the solids into the colander, and doing so may cause a hot mess.)

Cover the stock and place it in the refrigerator. As the stock cools, any fat will rise to the surface. This creates a protective coating, so don’t scrape it off until you are ready to use the stock.

Let the solids cool for a few minutes before wrapping in bags and discarding. (I have a dog, so I have to wrap and freeze the remains until trash day, or she will be tempted to dig them out of the garbage).

The stock will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. For Thanksgiving use, you can make it on Tuesday or Wednesday and it will be in great shape for your stuffing and gravy. If you have more stock than you will use in 3-4 days, separate the liquid into one-cup portions and freeze for future use. Stock will keep in the freezer for about six months.

Once Thanksgiving is over, you can make a wonderful turkey stock with the same method described above, using the turkey carcass. You will just need a large enough stock pot to cover the carcass. And also, break the largest part of the carcass into two sections so that it will circulate better in the pot. For a turkey, double the vegetables and seasonings because you will be using more liquid.





Friday, November 22, 2013

Gluten-free coconut banana bread with nuts or chocolate chips


A few weeks ago, I made a banana bread that did not manage to bake all the way before the kids were scheduled to leave for an overnight trip. The next morning, at 7am, all three of them were plowing through the front door to get to the banana-ey goodness. My husband and I had eaten some while they were away, but they ate the remainder of the loaf in about four minutes.
Gluten free banana bread
Left: Chocolate chip/coconut
Right: Walnut/coconut

Due to everyone’s conflicting food aversions and preferences in my house, I like to make a double-batch of banana bread (two loaves), and make one banana-nut and the other banana-chocolate chip. (The kids will not eat nuts. My husband claims he doesn’t like chocolate)

I made this recipe with gluten-free flour, and I added a little unsweetened dehydrated shredded coconut. (Not the sugar-coated shredded coconut you usually see atop coconut cream pies.) It gives the bread a slightly tropical flavor without being overly sweet. If you don’t like coconut, skip that step. It still works.

I have made this with both butter and coconut oil. Both are delicious. If you use coconut oil, it should be in its solid form (not liquid). The oil liquefies at warmer temperatures. To get liquid oil to harden up again, measure the desired quantity and put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

At the last step of this recipe, you decide whether to add nuts or chocolate chips, or both. 



This recipe makes one loaf. To make two, double all ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 350F
Grease the bottom of one loaf pan

>These are the dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, mix together
1 ½ cups Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free baking flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
¼ tsp xanthan gum (optional)

>These are the wet ingredients
In another medium bowl, combine
2 mashed bananas
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp gluten free vanilla

Using a mixer (or your really strong arms), beat together until creamy
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (3/4 stick) or solid coconut oil

Take turns adding wet and dry ingredients to the sugar/butter mixture, using about 1/3 of each at a time until everything is well blended.

Add
½ cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts or pecans in this)
or
½ cup dark chocolate chips
or both

Stir just long enough to combine.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Gluten free banana bread
Finished GF banana breads. Left: chocolate chip. Right: walnut.
I did not split the batter quite evenly on these,
so the one on the left took longer to cook.

Bake at 350F for about an hour, or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Allow the finished bread to cool for about 10 minutes (Very important. Hot bread tends to give you trouble coming out of the pan. And it’s hard to manage a 350-degree pan).

Run a metal spatula between the sides of the loaf and the interior of the pan.
Turn the pan out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool as long as the other people in your house will let you before they climb over you to get to the bread. (The cooler it is, the more cleanly it will slice).


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic (No knife required)


This evening, I injured myself while attempting to cut up a small chicken. I was working on a how-to video, and then my husband came in, not realizing that I had the camera on. I was giving him the “quiet, please,” face, instead of watching what I was doing. The knife slipped…and there you go. And now I have the whole thing on video. Fabulous.
Roasted Brussels sprouts


Inspired by my mishap, I decided to share an extremely easy and knife-free recipe that uses only 5 ingredients (plus one optional), and is quite healthy.

Two out of three of my kids even like these. That’s about as good as we ever do in our house, since the youngest is the pickiest person I've ever known.

These sprouts are very forgiving. I have put them in the oven right before going out for a run, and returned later than I expected to find them darker than I anticipated, but just as delicious. They pair well with anything robust or tomatoey. However, in our house, we normally eat them right off the roasting pan as soon as they are cool enough to touch. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
1 lb. Brussels sprouts
(I like the pre-washed bag, but the long stalks with the sprouts still attached also look very cool).
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Dried flaked red pepper
Optional: 4-5 whole cloves of garlic with the papery peel still on

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400F
Set out a broiler pan, roasting pan, or other large, shallow pan.

Place the sprouts in a mixing bowl. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over the sprouts. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper (probably about ¼ tsp each, depending on your tastes). Add the dried red pepper flakes to taste. I like my sprouts spicy, so I use about ¼ tsp.

If desired, add the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves. Swirl the bowl around so that the sprouts roll about in the oil and seasonings. Pour the sprouts onto the baking sheet. Roast them in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes, until the outer leaves turn very dark and are nearly black. They might look close to burned, but the olive oil should keep them from drying out.

When the sprouts are done, remove them from the oven. Pull out the garlic cloves, and squeeze the gooey roasted garlic out of the papery skin and onto a small cutting board. Roughly chop/mash the garlic goo, then return it to the pan with the sprouts, stirring the two together before placing them in a nice serving dish and taking them to the table. (Or eating all the sprouts right off the pan like vegetable addicts)

Note:
This is not a good dish to make the first time you have a new guy/girl over for dinner. The sprouts will make your house smell like farts for the first 20 minutes they are roasting. I know that’s not very ladylike, but I thought you should know. 

Gluten-Free Cornbread

We use this cornbread as an accompaniment for chili and any type of barbecue. It's also a key part of our cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving (the recipe for which is coming soon).
Cornbread with butter & honey



Gluten-Free Cornbread
1 1/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
3/4 cup gluten-free corn meal
1/4 tsp Xanthan gum (optional: The dough will be thinner without it, but it still works)
1/4 cup sugar (or honey or agave nectar)*
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain yogurt)**
2/3 cup milk**
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or melted butter)
2 whole eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400F.
Grease an 8- or 9-inch pan. (I use a 9-inch round stoneware pan for this).
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
In another medium bowl, combine the liquid ingredients.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, stir well, and pour the batter into the greased stoneware pan.
Allow the batter to sit for 3-4 minutes before baking.
Bake at 400F for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm, with butter and honey or all-fruit preserves.

Use the leftovers for cornbread stuffing.

Notes:


I specify Bob's gluten-free flour because each company uses a different mix. I find that some of the brands soak up too much liquid, requiring changes to the recipe.



*For the sweetener, you can use either regular sugar, honey or agave nectar. The liquid sweeteners make the batter thinner and the final product a little crunchier, but it works. You can vary the amount of sweetener based on your personal preference. If you like a sweeter cornbread, use 1/3 cup. If you are accustomed to "Southern" cornbread, try using 1/2 cup sugar.

About the liquid:
**In this recipe, I use a combination of Greek yogurt and milk. Alternatively, you could omit the yogurt + milk and use 1 cup of buttermilk. Buttermilk works great, but I do not always have it on hand.
For the lactose-intolerant, omit the yogurt + milk and instead use 1 cup of almond or soy milk + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar. Mix and let sit 5 minutes before using. The texture will change with this variation.