Wednesday, October 19, 2011

GF, DF, Low Sugar Lemon Pie with Coconut Crust


This lemon pie is simply scrumptious. The crust is made with delicate coconut flour, filled with meyer lemon filling and topped with an agave meringue. OK, what you imagine now is true, it is that good. The mellow taste of meyer lemon which is a lemon brought in from China centuries ago has a hint of orange to offset the tart taste of lemon. When I find them in season, I buy as much as I can to squeeze and freeze to have all year round. If you don't have them in your area, you can try a 2 to 1 ratio of say 1 tbsp orange juice to 2 tbsp lemon jiice. This filling will only make a thin layer, if you like your fillings thicker, double the filling recipe.


This crust is mixed with walnut flour, coconut flour and coconut flakes. You can make your own walnut flour by grinding walnuts till powdery but not to a paste so watch carefully. It bakes up beautifully.

The meringue is made with low glycemic agave heated and poured in slowly like the way you would make a 7 minute icing.

Lemon Coconut Agave Pie

Crust
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut (flakes)
1/4 cup ground walnuts
2 eggs
2 TBSP coconut sugar or 1 TBSP agave
1/4 cup Earthblend non dairy butter, softened
Pinch salt

Mix ingredients together in bowl. Dough will form a ball. The dough should be handled carefully and rolled between two sheets of wax paper till the desired size is obtained. Remove one layer of wax paper and flip the second layer on top of the pie pan. (I actually place the pie pan over the layer then in one fell swoop quickly flip the crust on top the pan). Prick sides and center of pie with fork.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes. Cool crust.

Filling
1/2 cup Meyer lemon
1/2 cup agave or coconut sugar*
1 tbsp regular lemon
Zest of one lemon
1 stick non dairy butter
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, 3 egg yolks

*Coconut sugar will bring a distinct coconut taste and darker color but is more difficult to find than agave.
Place lemon juice(regular and meyer), sugar or agave, zest, butter and salt in saucepan and heat on low till butter melts.
Combine eggs and egg yolks in bowl and stir.
Add 1/2 portion of lemon mix to eggs and stir quickly. Add all egg/lemon mixture to saucepan.
Heat and stir for 5 minutes till thick and coats back of metal spoon.
Strain and cool before pouring into pie pan.

Meringue
2 egg whites
1/2 cup light amber agave

Heat agave to simmer for about 7 minutes. In the interim, beat egg whites to stiff peaks, do not overbeat. Slowly pour in hot agave to beating egg whites. Whip a few more minutes till sugar is incorporated.

Pile on top of filled pie filling and bake in oven at 350 for about 4-6 minutes or until lightly browned.

Note: This pie may pool water at the bottom of the pie pan after a day in the refrigerator. Slowly pour out liquid if this happens. No worries. Meringue should stay nice and fluffy.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Easy Delicious GF, Non Dairy, Low Sugar Birthday Cake


Freezing your GF cakes are perfectly acceptable. While running my GF bakery this was common practice. Most GF foods keep very well in the freezer and therefore you always have a nice treat for that emergency birthday cake or dessert treat for a party. My favorite is this one made with your favorite GF cake (the one you made at 1 am when you couldn't sleep and froze 2 weeks before), a pack of Mimic Creme or Soy A Too whipped creme and a can of unsweetened fruit like peaches.

I mentioned Mimic Creme in an earlier blog posting. Made of cashews and nuts this low carbohydrate, low sugar alternative whips up to a stiff and thick creme. You can add more sweetener by whipping in agave syrup to taste. SoyAToo is a European product that is also non dairy and made with soy, an alternative for those of you allergic to nuts.

Simply whip your cream, strain your canned fruit and layer in your favorite cake.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

GF, DF in Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa, Canada's capital, is a gluten sensitive aware city. The Milestones restaurant, beside the famed Chateau Laurier has a wonderful section of gluten free foods on their menu. Spaghetti made with rice pasta in a tomato and caper sauce can be ordered without the feta cheese for those of us avoiding dairy. There is also a burger on a gluten free bun and numerous side dishes that are GF and dairy friendly.


The vegetarian restaurant, The Green Table on Main Street serves a fantastic buffet. A variety of vegan items like cauliflower stew simmered in a non dairy creamy cashew sauce, avocado salad filled with large half avocados marinated in a tangy sauce, tasty tofu salads, fresh made split pea soup filled with fresh green vegetables and a chopped kale salad are among the many dishes offered. The desserts are quite spectacular with fresh fruit, berry and tofu pies. My only disappointment was many of the beautiful breads and crusts were made with spelt flour and not GF. Otherwise kudos for the healthy, delicious meals!


Simply Biscotti on Preston Street has a delicious selection of GF offerings including a biscotti made with cornmeal, delicious with a cup of soy cappuccino. At the Byward Market,. I ordered a dozen different cupcakes from the Cupcake Lounge and fooled all my wheat eating friends. A good sign when not one crumb was left on the plate.

The awareness in this city is evident in signs and menus throughout the city. It is hard to go hungry here.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Heavenly GF Cherry Scones (England)


A nice cup of tea with scones, how wonderful is that? This sorghum based scone is tender and loaded with good stuff. I used coconut sugar to make it low glycemic and thick coconut cream to replace nut milks or dairy. You won't miss the eggs so it's perfect for those who are allergic and also used frozen whole cherries for a nice surprise inside. Made for a tender crumb and juicy cherry filling.

These freeze pretty well.


Cherry GF Scones


1.5 cups sorghum flour 1/2 cup tapioca flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/4 cup coconut sugar pinch of salt 1/8 tsp xanthan gum

1 stick Earthblend non dairy butter

1/2 cup coconut milk (not the lite version but the full cream version)

10 whole cherries (frozen is fine)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients together with a paddle on a low setting and add the stick of butter till crumbly in texture. Do not overmix.

Slowly pour in the coconut milk and mix until dough forms a ball.

Shape ball into triangles and stuff with one cherry. You should have enough dough for 10 scones.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Allow to cool until set. Enjoy with a cup of hot cinnamon tea.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Musings on being GF in the Philippines

Though rice is the main staple of the Filipino diet, wheat still has a strong presence in Manila particularly with the westernization and seemingly unstoppable growth in the city. Subway's, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks hold their own alongside local food establishments like Milky Way, Cafe Adriatico and Jollibee.
Bakeries' are abundantly thriving with little to no options for the GF. Rice desserts though are common and indigenous to the culture. Boiled in coconut milk and sugar till dry they are pressed into cakes to make "bibingka". Glutinous rice flour and water are boiled in water for a few seconds till the patties float and then rolled in coconut flakes and sugar to make "palitaw". Steamed rice flour with coconut milk is steamed to make "puto", a native staple with each region boasting their superior recipes.





Filipinos do love their rice. A heaping mound or two of white rice with a meat dish or "ulam" are the norm. As a result, gluten free eating is quite easy especially when sticking with local specialties. In recent year's, traditional foods have been become designer food products. Take a Sunday trip to the Legazpi market in Makati, Manila and you can feast on anything from fried pigeon, fresh from the shell coconut juice, water buffalo cheese and ice cream. One designer food shop "Bud-Bud Kabog" run by Maribel and Carl Van Hoven offer a local specialty called "suman", sweet rice with coconut milk wrapped tightly and steamed in banana leaves, with a creative spin. They stuff them with a myriad of fillings from chocolate to mango to langka (a native jackfruit with a pungent odor but a mild delicate, milky taste). They even make a version out of millet which is fantastic.




At this market you will find the local water buffalo milk or carabao milk made into cheese or ice cream as shown in the photo on the right on top of a banana leaf. Sort of ironic when you consider these massive grey horned creatures in the rice fields can produce such delicate cheese.

While in Manila, I was fortunate to have dinner at a friend's house where their chef, Josh, had prepared my portion of the meal - gluten and dairy free. I was grateful, somewhat embarassed, strangely honored, at the accomodation they had to make for my allergies. Josh was up to the challenge though and prepared a meal from soup to dessert, all offerings worthy of being served at a finest GF restaurant. His dessert creation was a handrolled rice paper filled with a banana and jackfruit filling on a delicate fruit sauce- simply heavenly.



Being gluten free for locals does create a challenge when you venture away from rice. I spoke to a friend whose husband, an American from Virginia living part time in the Philippines, was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity a few years ago and yearns for palatable bread. She explained to me how celiac disease tests did not exist in the Philippines, the majority of people have little to no awareness of gluten allergies. Other friends who live there, with autistic children have to spend a small fortune on a small pack of Bob's Red Mill flours. A very big frustration and am sensing becoming a larger problem. The farming of ancient grains like teff, quinoa or amaranth which are easy to grow and proliferate wildly in South America are not available domestically. With the tropical climate I imagine these grains would grow in abundance.


Without these options, your staple remains rice. A call to creative chefs out there to meet the demand of alternative grains for the ever increasing GF population.






























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