Slightly Indulgent Tuesday – 2/9/10

February 8, 2010  { 6 Comments }    

If you love fabulous food made a little bit healthier, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for stopping by! Amy

It’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesday – last week we had a record high of 25 fabulous dishes made healthier.  Thank you for participating!

Culinary School Update

I find myself wishing that you were all closer so I could stop by for dinner – culinary school has kept me on my toes and out of my own kitchen.  Midterms are this week.  I’ve been studying foodborne illnesses, nutrition, and databases.  Not much cooking yet.  That will come soon enough.

I did finally get to don my new knife set last week.  Chef Michael instructed us to get out our tools, including a carrot peeler.  As I opened my knife case and carefully remove my brand new Wustof chef’s knife, the excitement welled up inside me and I held back tears of joy. I’d been waiting 14 years for this moment and wanted it to be memorable.

Chef proceeded to hold up a carrot and said, “I’m going to teach you how to peel a carrot.”

Yep. I got my memorable moment.  And a good laugh. The basics are always a good place to start.

Last Week

Enough about my culinary adventures…or misadventures.  I have a few things on my ‘to make’ list for when I get a moment or two.

Peanut butter cups from Avivah at Too Good to Be Healthy made my mouth water.  I haven’t had a peanut butter cup for years.  Alea from Premeditated Leftovers shared her Easy Applesauce Cake, which looks like a perfect dessert for guests.

My Submission & A Give-Away

I made dairy free, sugar free chocolate coconut pudding from I Love Dessert by my friend and food allergy expert, Nicolette Dumke.  She’s giving a copy of this fabulous must-have book to one of my readers so make sure to stop by and leave a comment.

Linking Up Guidelines!!

• When you link, please tell us who you are and what you’re cooking . For example, I would enter:
  Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten Free – (Dairy Free Chocolate Coconut Pudding)
• Please link to your individual post, not your homepage and link back to this post so that your readers can find the recipes here.

I hate deleting links…If you find that your link has been deleted it’s because it doesn’t link to your post or you haven’t linked back here.  E-mail me with questions or if you need help.

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Dairy Free, Sugar Free Chocolate Coconut Pudding Recipe & A Cookbook Give Away!

February 7, 2010  { 43 Comments }    

There’s nothing quite as comforting or satisfying as this thick, rich dairy free, sugar free pudding. With an upfront chocolaty taste and a smooth, light coconut finish, I found myself pleasantly suprised.

Pudding hasn’t graced my lips for over 6 years.  At some point the powdered stuff from the box lost it’s appeal.  And not being a pudding fan, I never tried to whip up a batch myself.

So why make pudding?

Nicolette generously offered to give a copy of her book, I Love Dessert but NOT Sugar, Wheat, Milk, Gluten, Corn, Soy, Unhealthy Fat…, to one of my readers.

You’ve seen her recipes here before – carob brownies and the gingerbread I used to make my Daring Baker’s Gingerbread House.  If you read Kim’s blog, The Food Allergy Coach, you’ve seen her amaranth apple cobbler, buckwheat brownies, and quinoa chocolate chip cookies.

Even though I’m not a pudding aficionado, I wanted to give you something new from Nicolette’s book – it has a little bit of everything.  I had all of the ingredients for pudding on hand so that’s what went in the sauce pot.

How did it taste?

When the pudding was still warm, I hesitantly dipped my spoon into a bowl put the tip in my mouth lest my taste buds revolt.  An involuntary smile spread across my face.  I promptly finished off the first spoonful then drug my spoon back across the pudding and savored it once again.  10 minutes later I had an empty bowl and a happy belly.

Below is Nicolette’s recipe.  I made just a few changes, which I’ve noted at the bottom.

Print friendly recipe

Chocolate or Carob Pudding
makes about 4 servings
reprinted with permission from I Love Dessert

1/4 cup carob or cocoa powder
5 tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch
2 cups coconut milk, goat or other alternative milk (or cow’s milk if tolerated)
1/2 cup agave, Fruit Sweet, or honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)

Stir together the carob powder or cocoa and starch in a saucepan.  Add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until it forms a smooth paste.  Stir in the rest of the mik and the sweetener and cook the pudding over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it thickens and comes to a boil.  Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Serve the pudding warm or cold.

I made these changes:

• I used lite coconut milk – it’s what I had on hand.  I ended up adding 2 cans, about 3 1/2 cups.  This is a thick pudding and I like mine a little thinner.
• Being a chocolate lover, I added 2 extra tablespoons or cocoa powder and 1/2 teaspoon of instant decaf to enhance the flavor a little more.
• I used 1/4 cup of agave and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid stevia.
• As you can tell from the pics, my pudding got topped with toasted, unsweetened coconut flakes.  Pop them in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 minutes or so and they’re perfect.

To Enter the Give Away:

• Visit Nicolette’s I Love Dessert recipe list and comment about something you’d like to make.
• Check out Nicolette’s website – Food-Allergy.org and tell us what you like.
• Tweet about this give-away with a link and leave a comment telling me you did.
• Post about the give-away on your blog with a link back and leave a comment telling me you did.
• Subscribe to my feed either via RSS or e-mail – leave a comment.
• Follow me on Twitter – again, leave a comment.
• Add me to your friends on Facebook with a comment.

Open only to residents of the 48 continental United States…sorry to all my international friends.

Boring Full Disclosure Statement:  I did receive a free copy of Nicolette’s book, I Love Dessert.  This is not a paid give-away.  My personal opinion is that Nicolette’s work can help many people and I’m happy to share it with my readers.

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Understanding & Choosing Gluten Free Flours, Part 2: Mixing Flours

February 4, 2010  { 16 Comments }    

Last Friday there was a lively discussion about gluten free flour density – if you missed Part 1 of this series on gluten free flour density you can find it here.

More on Flour Density

I classified flours into three categories – lightweight, mediumweight, and heavyweight.  My good friend Linda from Kitchen Therapy made a great point, one that I didn’t include – lightweight gluten free flours are probably not flours at all.

They’re some form of starch.  Cornstarch, arrowroot starch, potato starch, tapioca starch.  This confused me when I first started baking gluten free – putting cornstarch in my cupcakes was a little weird.

My earlier baking projects were starch heavy.  I could get wheat-like results that way.  I didn’t know much about the nutritional side of gluten free flours and only wanted an edible result.

Baking with Lightweight Gluten Free Flours

Here’s where I stand on this today:

I like using less lightweight, starchy flours and more nutrition dense flours in my baking.  I feel better about what I’m putting in my body.  That being said, I don’t think starchy flours are bad.  They help improve texture.   For me, the important part is being aware of what I’m eating and practicing moderation.

Obviously, the less non-nutritious foods I put in my body the better.  Nutrient dense quinoa and millet are much healthier choices than cornstarch.  Hands down.

But let’s look at this from an analytical standpoint:

Let’s say a muffin recipe calls for 2 cups of quinoa flour and 1/2 cup of tapioca starch. The yield is 12 muffins.

There are roughly 24 teaspoons in 1/2 cup.  Each muffin would have about 2 teaspoons of starch in it.  Not a huge deal.  (Please note:  This is based on a liquid measure so it’s close but not exact.)

Why We Mix Gluten Free Flours (or starches…)

Mixing flours generally gives a better result.  It’s not necessary with all flours, but it helps most.

When you combine a lightweight flour and a heavyweight flour, the final product is lighter.  This is why you often see a starchy flour mixed with a medium or heavyweight flour.

Which Combination Will Work Best?

To answer this question, you have to know a couple of things.  First, know what you’re trying to create.  If you want to make a traditional white cake for a birthday party, choose flours that are light in color and texture.  A mix heavier in starch will probably work best.

Maybe you want to make a nutritious breakfast muffin that will satisfy your appetite while not making you crash later from too many carbs.  For this I’d go with a mix that is mostly garbanzo bean or quinoa flour mixed with sorghum and a little arrowroot or tapioca starch to improve the texture.

When testing a new recipe, I generally start with 4 parts medium or heavyweight flour to 1 part lightweight flour.  I also like to mix medium and heavyweight flours in a recipe.   Over time, I’ve learned to let gluten free flours be what they are.  The creative freedom that has come from this has been incredible.

The second thing to know is what flours work well together and which ones don’t.  More about this next week.

Recipes

To help make this a little more concrete, here are some recipes that feature different flour mixes.

Please note that these are not perfect examples, instead they’re here to illustrate the different ways these flours can be used.

1. Lightweight Gluten Free Flour Recipes
   Chive & Parsley Cream Biscuits
   Lynn’s Gluten Free Bread Machine Bread
2. Mediumweight Gluten Free Flour Recipes
   Carrot Date Spice Muffins
   Sour Milk Sorghum Pancakes from Linda at Kitchen Therapy
3. Heavier Gluten Free Flour Recipes
   Cranberry Walnut Bread with Buckwheat Flour
   Buckwheat Pumpkin Muffins

What’s your experience with mixing gluten free flours?

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Homemade Yogurt Recipe – It’s Simpler than You Think!

February 2, 2010  { 23 Comments }    

I’ve tried several times to make yogurt in my CrockPot with no success.  The closest I came was a clumpy mess the consistency of thin tomato soup.  No good.  I’ve seen the jar and cooler method but it’s too involved for me.

Still, I often talk about wanting to make yogurt.

My husband really listens to what I say.  For my birthday, he bought me a yogurt maker – this Salton with pretty little glass jars that you make the yogurt in.  (He got me 12 pieces of vintage Pyrex, too – and some of them still have the original glass lids. They’re beautiful.)

Some girls want Prada bags and BMWs.  Not me.  I want kitchen appliances, antique cookware and utensils, great knives, food processors, tons of mason jars, kitchen gadgets, and a garden.

The Result

I followed a recipe out of the book using the organic yogurt starter he bought.  Only 3 ingredients needed.

Oh my goodness…talk about thick, rich, and creamy with the perfect tang.  I was shocked – everything I’ve read says that homemade yogurt needs to thicken in the refrigerator.  This is thick when it comes out of the yogurt maker- no setting up needed.

It’s better than the Greek Yogurt I buy at the store.  Joe has even been eating it for dessert.  We’re on our second batch already.

A Few Tips

When you make homemade yogurt, you’ll need:

• to use a metal spoon – a wooden spoon can contaminate the culture and it won’t set up correctly.
• a clean saucepan or pot.
• the jars and lids that come with the yogurt maker – make sure they’re clean, too.
• a reliable instant read digital thermometer.
• organic yogurt starter.  (This is how I’ve been doing it – you can also use 1/2 cup of already made yogurt.)

In the recipe below, I tell you exactly how I made my yogurt so that you can get the same results.

A Few Yogurt Links

• Jenn from The Leftover Queen makes her own yogurt and has it for breakfast.
• Diana from A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa has an extensive yogurt tutorial here.
• Katie from Kitchen Stewardship makes her yogurt using the jar and cooler method – too much work for me but it works for her and it might work for you, too.

Reminders

1. I have a give-away this week for Pamela’s Products – there will be 3 winner.  Check out the details here.
2. You can still link your healthier recipe to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday here.  There are many great recipes for you to browse, too.

Print friendly recipe

Easy Homemade Yogurt
makes 4 cups
made in my Salton Yogurt Maker

4 cups of 1% organic milk
1/2 cup dry non-fat milk powder
1/2 cup organic yogurt starter

Put milk in a clean metal saucepan and place over medium heat.  Add milk powder and stir until dissolved completely.  Heat until nearly boiling, about 185 degrees.  Watch carefully though because you don’t want to boil the milk.

Remove the milk from the heat and let it cool to 100 – 110 degrees.  You can do this one of two ways – let it cool on the counter.  (This takes way too long for me.)  Or, pour the milk into a clean bowl and set the bowl with the milk into a larger bowl with ice in it. (This is called an ice bath.)

Stir every 1o minutes or so until the yogurt temps between 100 and 110 degrees.  Put the yogurt starter into a glass measuring cup.  Add some of the warm milk to the starter and stir until it’s combined and smooth.  Stir this into the milk.

Divide evenly between the glass jars, pop the plastic lids on, and place in your handy yogurt maker.  Put on the plastic lid, plug in, and turn on.  Leave yogurt in the yogurt maker for 6 – 10 hours, depending on how you like your yogurt.  I took mine out at 10 hours.  It’s perfectly divine.

Enjoy!

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Slightly Indulgent Tuesday – 2/2/10

February 1, 2010  { 14 Comments }    

Welcome back to another week of Slightly Indulgent Tuesday!  If you are NOT a blogger – this weekly event is still for you!  Let me explain -

My intent is to have a resource of wonderful, easy to find recipes – all made healthier. Throughout the week, other bloggers add links to their healthier recipes via this great gadget called “Mr. Linky.”  This makes it easier for you to find new recipes and inspiration.

Come back later today and see if you find anything that sparks an interest.  There’s not been one week that’s gone by that I haven’t learned something new.

From Last Week

Katrina from Gluten-Free Gidget seems to be on the same wave-length as me…super busy with little time to cook.  But she whipped up a delish gluten-free, dairy free calzone – I’m hoping she delivers because dinner at our place has been hit and miss.  Live Once, Juicy made pan-roasted maple walnut brussel sprouts.  If you’ve never pan roasted brussel sprouts, put it on your ‘must do’ list.  They’re divine.

A reminder…

Have you seen my Almond Butter Cookies and this week’s give-away from Pamela’s Products?  Three lucky readers will each win a bag of Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix, Cornbread & Muffin Mix, and Gluten-Free Bread Mix.

Linking Up!!

When you link, please tell us who you are and what you’re cooking . For example, I would enter:

Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten Free – (Almond Butter Cookies)

Please link to your individual post, not your homepage and link back to this post so that your readers can find the recipes here. If you find that your link has been deleted it’s because it doesn’t link to your post or you haven’t linked back here.  E-mail me with questions or if you need help.

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