Gluten Free Bread

Seeing the posts on facebook about how unhealthy food can be or that some one isn't posting healthy enough food makes me want to post a few recipes.  As a chef, we are taught many recipes. When cooking first became big and Auguste Escoffier and Julia Child started doing recipes, they were rich and had butter and a lot of salt. That was the way of cooking then. People didn't care so much about their health. Now today, people are so much more health conscious. There are certain diseases that involve food intolerance.  I am a chef because I love to cook. If that means changing a much loved original recipe so that someone with an intolerance can experience that same great dish, so be it. Food is an international language, people need not to judge people because of what they post. If you don't like the recipe, change it, make it your own .

That being said, my little cousin can't have gluten. So I am posting some recipes that he might be able to use. They are gluten free, just don't know if he will like them . I hope that others can also use these.

Sandwich Bread
3 cup GF flour blend. ( I posed the blend in a prior posting)
2 pkgs (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
 2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water , plus additional as needed
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp cider vinegar

line a 9x5 loaf pan with foil. dull side out. Extend sides of foil 3" over sides. Spray with non stick cooking spray and then dust with flour blend.

Whisk 3 cups flour blend, yeast, xanthan gum, and salt in a large bowl of stand mixer. Whisk 1 cup warm water, eggs, oil, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl until well blended.

Add oil mix to flour mix. Beat a low speed with paddle attachment until batter is smooth, shiny and thick. Add 1tbsp water at a time, if necessary. Beat at med- high speed about 5 minutes. Scraping sides of bowl.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the batter reaches the top of the pan.  Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Baker 30-50 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Internal temperature should be 200 degrees F. Remove to wire rack to cool

Yes, bread can sound hallow. Its weird hearing it at first, but its like a "thunk" Do take it out of the loaf pan, if you don't the sides become soggy and do not support the weight of the bread. Let it sit for 5 min out of the oven, the dump on to a wire rack so that if firms up.


Happy Cooking

Swiss Chicken

Searching threw the numerous posts on Pinterest, looking for an idea for dinner. I come across someones version of Swiss Chicken. I figured I would give it a go and see how it would come out.  Its a hit with my family. The best part is that you can make this ahead of time and freeze it for a later time that you want a dinner just to heat and eat. I have taken the recipe and make a few changes to it so that it has a little better flavor. Its ok to use some canned products but you have to have food that tastes good.. The canned soup just has a blah taste and makes the dish boring.


4-5 (16oz/1lb) chicken breasts
 pinterest says to use canned chicken, which I am against.
1 can of condensed chicken soup
1/2 cup of milk
 pinterest said 1/4 cup
6-8 slices of Swiss cheese
    I would try Munster, or Pepper Jack depending on how much flavor
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 -1/2 cup bacon bits
1 box of stuffing mix
1/2 tbps butter or more

Make sure that you spray your pan before placing food in it. Saves on cleaning time, unless you use a disposable pan.

Place the chicken breast in first. Then in a separate bowl combine the soup, milk and garlic powder and stir until spreadable. You want to be able to pour it and spread it with a spatula. I added a little Sandwich sprinkle ( penzey's spices) for some extra added flavor.  Then layer the cheese over the chicken. Spread/ pour the soup mix over the top of the cheese. Finally add the boxed stuffing mix. I would prefer my own stuffing mix,but you can get just the bread crumbles and use those if you do not want the flavored mix. Melt the butter for about 15-20 in the microwave and then pour it over the stuffing mix and add the bacon crumbles. 
At this point you can either freeze it or cook it. If your cooking it, pre heat the oven to
350 degrees. Cook the Swiss Chicken for 60 minutes, until a thermometer comes out reading 165 degrees F let rest 5 minutes and serve.

Happy Eating

Yea, 200 ..

I have finally reached my 200 post on here. Its taken a few years but I want to get better at posting. It seems that I need to have more recipes and food facts for everyone to read about . Along with the time to sit and write about it all . Thank you everyone who has read me and keeps reading me when I have the crazy times to sit down and post food. March is Pi month . I will make an effort to post pie recipes this month and have yummy treats for all of you..

Happy Eating.

Gluten Free Pizza

Its been awhile since I have posted. I have working hard on my degree with creating menus and recipes. Nutrition class has been a challenge.  Today I have been working on a gluten free pizza dough. I thought of doing this for my little cousin who can't have any kind of gluten. There are many new foods these days that have taken in the sensitivity to those who are gluten free.

GF Pizza

1 ¾ cup GF flour blend (I will include the one I used at the end of recipe) plus additional for surface working

1 ½ cup white rice flour

2 tsp sugar

1 package of active dry yeast

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp xanthan gum

1 ¼ cup warm water about 100 degrees

2 tbsp olive oil

Topings : homemade or GF pizza sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, fresh vegetables

Directions:

Whisk flour blend, 1 ½ cups rice flour, sugar, yeast, salt, Italian seasoning, baking powder and xanthan gum in a large bowl of a stand mixer. Add warm water, slowly  and beat on low speed. A soft dough should form. Add oil and beat 2 min more.

Turn dough one on floured surface and knead about 2 -3 minutes and form in to ball.

Pam Spray a bowl and place dough in a bowl covered and let rest for 30 minutes in a warm place.  Dough should double in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line pizza pan with parchment or foil. Punch down dough, and place in center of pan and spread out.  Dough should be about 1/8 “ thick.

Bake 5-7 minutes or until crust just begins to brown.

Top crust with pizza toppings and cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is slightly brown.

GF Flour Blend

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup sorghum flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1 cup cornstarch or arrowroot

¾ cup Chickpea flour

1/3 cup instant mashed potato flakes

This makes about 5 cups of blended flour

Happy Eating