A GF Thanksgiving Feast

A Happy GF Thanksgiving!!

The holidays present a myriad of choices for GF/CF lovers. Websites overflow with ideas. To complement your Thanksgiving turkey you can include side dishes like pumpkin flan (made with hemp or rice milk), cranberry apple chutney, fruit tart, whipped sweet potatoes, macaroons, to name just a few. Here are some menu ideas that center around a hassle free, simply cooked, crispy skin, moist centered turkey.

2 Hour Roast Turkey with Brown Rice/Mushroom Dressing

12 lb fresh thawed, no antibiotic turkey, salt and pepper

Prepare turkey by removing any giblets in cavity (my sister always forgets to take these out) and sprinkling with salt and pepper.

Heat oven to 375 degrees (Use an oven thermometer for best results). Place turkey in the oven for about 2 hours. To check for doneness, insert a thermometer at the base of the breast between the thigh and make sure temperature is 180 degrees. That’s it – you’re done.

No fussing, no basting, no bags or contraptions. This will work only for turkeys under 14 pounds.

Brown Rice Mushroom Dressing
In a saucepan, toast 1.5 cups of brown rice. It will smell heavenly and take on a lightly browned color. Remove rice. Sautee 3 cups mushrooms (shitake or crimini work nicely) and 1 large chopped diced onion in about 4 tbsp of olive oil. Add back browned rice and 6 cups of water and stir to mix. Bring rice to a boil on medium high heat. Once boiling, lower heat to medium low or low and boil for about 45-55 minutes until water dries out and rice is soft. Toss in 1 cup diced green onions and serve.

Brussel sprouts with Pecans
Wash and quarter about 1 pound of brussel sprouts. In a pan, heat about 4 Tbsp olive oil. Add sprouts and cook till tender. Add about 1 cup chopped pecans and 2 tbsp orange juice. Mix thoroughly and serve warm.

Whipped sweet potato
This simple recipe brings out the natural sweetness of the potato without the addition of a lot of sugar.

Wash 4 medium sized sweet potatoes and poke with a fork to release steam. (If you can find the Japanese sweet potatoes they are the sweetest, most delicious variety you can find. No need to even sweeten it!) Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil for about 15-20 minutes or until tender. When cooled, peel and cut in half. Place in a mixing bowl, add 3 tbsp rice milk, 3 tbsp orange juice and ½ tsp cinnamon. If your potatoes are not sweet enough, add a few tablespoons of agave nectar to keep the glycemic level low.

Cranberry Apple chutney
A nice complement to the turkey, you can also bottle this in jars to give as gifts. You can even make it ahead and freeze it for a later date.

In a large saucepan combine 4 cups cranberries, 1 cup raisins, ¾ cup agave syrup, 1 tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp cloves, 1 tbsp cinnamon and 1 cup water. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes (the cranberries will pop in the pan so don’t worry). Add 1 medium chopped onion, 1 medium, peeled, cored and diced apple and cook another 15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.

GF Pumpkin Flan
No sugar, no wheat, no lactose – what could be better than this!? This recipe uses coconut milk, pumpkin and agave nectar.

In an 8 inch pie round, pour 1/3 cup agave syrup. This step replaces the traditional melting of the sugar and water at the bottom of a flan.

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix together 1 cup coconut milk and 1 cup pumpkin puree.Heat in saucepan till just to the point of steaming and warm. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, mix together 5 eggs, 1/3 cup agave nectar and a pinch of salt.
Slowly whisk in the milk mixture, half first then mix thoroughly then the next half. Do this so as not to scramble the eggs. Add ½ tsp vanilla.

Pour through a fine mesh sieve on to the prepared pan.
Place in a another pan and pour hot water to cover halfway up the sides of the pan.
Bake 40-60 minutes or until firm when jiggled. Remove pan from water and cool for 2 hours.

When ready to unmold, set pan in warm water for a few minutes and run a hot knife along the sides of the custard. Place serving plate on top of custard pan and flip very quickly. Let pan sit on top for a few minutes to ensure the agave at the bottom pours along the top.

GF Tart Nut Crust

The challenge with removing the gluten in crust is ensuring it holds its shape when it is unmolded and filled, I've used this nut crust very successfully for mini fruit tarts., It bakes up beautifully with the hazelnuts which adds an interesting complement to many of the fillings. I have also tried this with almond meal with much success. This crust will hold up when filled for about 2 days. Fill with your favorite filling - a rice milk pastry "cream", lemon, chocolate or coconut filling. This should be a staple in your dessert repertoire.

Makes about three - 4 inch tarts or one 9 inch crust.

1/3 cup plus 1/2 tbsp white rice flour - use the fine rice flour (Gusto's or try your Asian food markets)

3/4 cup garbanzo flour

1/2 cup ground hazelnut flour (can use almond meal)

3 tbsp agave

5 1/2 tbsp chilled non dairy butter (I use Earthblend)

Mix together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the non dairy butter a tabsp at a time on low speed till mixture forms a ball. Wrap with waxed paper or plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Tip -> You can freeze this crust up to 2 weeks. Move to refrigerator for a few hours till soft before rolling out.

Heat oven to 400.

When ready to use, roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to a round about 1 inch larger than the base of your pan. Ensure dough is rolled out evenly. Lift dough and flip onto tart mold. Gently press into place, cut and trim pieces to ensure evenness in sides and middle of dough. Pay careful attention to the thinner portions of the crust wall adding more crust to reinforce as necessary. This ensures when you remove the crust from the pan it is sturdy enough to handle and hold your filling without falling.

Puncture bottom with fork several times to ensure dough does not rise when being baked creating dough bubbles. You may also use pie weights if you have them.

Tip -> I place foil on crust then top with rice (this later gives the rice a nice toasted taste when you are ready to cook it)

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned.

If you need a pre-cooked pie crust - bake 10 minutes, fill then bake an additional 20-25 minutes.

GF Lemon Bars

This recipe uses an almond crust for a nice low carbohydrate option, has no sugar (powdered sugar is optional) or lactose. I used Meyer lemons which are a cross between lemons and mandarin oranges. It mellows out the lemon sharpness nicely. You could add about 1 tbsp orange juice to 1/2 cup of regular lemon juice in this recipe to substitute for Meyer lemons.

Blanched Almond Flour is a finer ground almond meal and works very nice for baking and cooking. If you use almond meal you may not get the fine crust result. There are many fine ground almond flours available online. I got mine mailorder from Honeyville products.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan with oil and dust with almond flour.

1 ½ Cups blanched almond flour
2 tbsp brown rice flour
½ tsp sea salt
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 tbsp agave nectar

Combine almond flour, brown rice and salt in mixing bowl.
Mix together agave, oil and mix in to the dry ingredients till combined.
Press into pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, crust will be golden brown.
Meantime, prepare filling below.
½ cup Meyer lemon
1/3 cup agave syrup
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ tsp salt
Mix all ingredients in a blender till smooth. Pour filling into hot crust.Bake an additional 15 minutes till golden and firm. Let cool for 30 minutesand place in refrigerator for a few hours till set. Cut into bars and enjoy.

You could optionally sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like a white powdered topping.

Yummy GF Waffles (Europe)

The origin of waffles dates back to the Middle Ages, thin crisp cakes between wafer irons. In 14th century England, wafers were sold by street vendors called waferers. Some food historians say the waffle originated in Greece in the 1300. In Sweden there is even a Waffle Day! In America, waffles were brought in by the Pilgrims from Holland and are typically leavened with baking powder.

Those of us who are gluten free can celebrate the waffle with this recipe which I think are better than the run of the mill wheat ones . The potato and rice flours crisp nicely in the waffle iron. Be sure to use the right kind of rice flour, the fine ground variety and not the glutinous ground rice or regular ground. Also don’t confuse potato flour with potato starch, they are different. Substituting will affect the outcome of your waffles. If you happen to be lucky enough for leftovers, they also freeze very nicely. To save time, mix the dry ingredients and store them. When ready simply add the wet ingredients. Serve with your favorite fruit, soy yogurt and smother it in agave or maple syrup…YUMMY! Note: Sorry, this recipe does not work for pancakes.

Wheat Free, Dairy Free Waffles
2/3 cup Rice Flour ( fine ground)
1/2/ cup Potato Starch
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
8 tbsp Non Dairy Butter (I use Earthblend), melted and cooled slightly
1 2/3 cup Soy Milk “Buttermilk” *
1 Egg
1 Egg Whites
2 tbsp Agave

Spray or oil your waffle iron.
Sift all the dry ingredients together.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks and Egg whites together.
Add in cooled melted butter, buttermilk and agave.
Stir wet ingredients into the dry. Batter will be very thin.
Place a ladle full into waffle iron and cook until steam stops. Slowly lift top cover. If the waffles are cooked, you will have less resistance when trying to lift the cover. If it is difficult to lift
Your waffles are not done, leave in and continue to test. You should get the hang of it. This recipe will make about 6-8 square waffles.

*To make a soy “buttermilk”, take a cup of soy milk and add a tsp of apple cider vinegar, let sit for 30 minutes till it curdles. You may also use rice milk.