Chewy Blueberry Muffins

What do I do when I'm home alone, feeling low, with no clear idea of what I want for dinner?

I look for something to bake.

On this particular night, I came up with a number of ideas which were then thwarted by my realization that I was out of both butter and eggs. So that lead me to experiment with one of my favorite muffin recipes. Gluten Free Girl & The Chef's Whole Grain Muffin recipe is a fantastic template to experiment with, I've made everything from chocolate zucchini muffins to lemon poppy-seed. This time, I deviated a bit more and come up with something I think I'll make again and again.

These muffins are vegan and frankly, I think they taste better than any other muffin I've ever made. They've got a chewy crust and they're soft and moist on the inside. Since we're trying to adjust our household's relationship with sugar, I used coconut palm sugar and halved the amount from the original recipe. The combination of the oats, teff, and sugar make a full yummy flavor that I just love.

RecipesAdina Marguerite PeaseMay 15, 2012Baking, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Vegan Comments

Rhubarb & Meyer Lemon Jam

Rhubarb Meyer Lemon Jam www.glutenfreetravelette.com

After yesterday's very serious post, I thought I might sweeten things up a bit.

Rhubarb and Meyer Lemons are two of my favorite foods in the world and I simply love that short time of year when their seasons overlap. We're at the tail end of seeing Meyer Lemons in stores here in Seattle - so I'm buying them up like they won't be back for another year. Rhubarb is everywhere right now, including in our edible garden.

After scoring some great Weck Jars at this great shop in the University District I thought about combining the two into some jam and it turned out fantastic. For this recipe I let it simmer and reduce down almost in half to really get some deep and delicious flavors in there. We've been eating this jam on toast, bagels, ice cream, and on the occasional spoon. I've also been planning to make some frozen yogurt with my favorite sheep milk yogurt and add a swirl of this jam.

Now, if you can't find Meyer Lemons anymore - I suppose it's worth a try with regular lemon zest or maybe combining half orange zest and half lemon zest. I'm sure that would still be tasty, but it won't have just the same POW of flavors of this specific combination.

Garlic Egg Bagels

It's that time again! The Gluten Free Ratio Rally is back and this time we're making bagels! Morri of Meals with Morri is hosting this month - so be sure to check over there for a full list of the bagel creations. I've tried to include a list at the end of this post as well.

When I think bagels, two primary types come to mind; the fluffy Noah's Bagels and the denser sprouted multigrain variety that I grew to love before realizing they were actually terrible for me.

My trials with developing a ratio for gluten free bagels began with a recipe posted on Michael Ruhlman's site and created by Bruce Ezzell. I knew from the start that I wanted to make egg bagels - so adding egg yolks was the first adjustment I made. I gave this newly egg-tastic recipe a try with the regular multigrain flour mix I use around the house and that turned out to be strike one. Multigrain just does not make the egg bagels I was going for. Next, I moved on to crafting a more mild flour blend that would let the eggs shine.

Chocolate Brownie Pie with Orange Zest

Mary Fran from Franny Cakes is hosting this month's rally for brownies, so check back there for a full listing of all the brownie posts - I've also tried to include a complete list at the bottom of this post.

I'll admit, I really struggled with this month's rally. My initial goal was to create a chewy but not too fudgy dairy free brownie with macadamia nuts, coconut flakes, and orange zest. I tried and tried and ended up throwing out batch after batch. Perhaps my expectations were set too high with all the delicious boxed gluten free brownie mixes out there like King Arthur. So eventually I threw in the towel and went about recreating a family favorite recipe; Chocolate Brownie Pie. I would describe it as somewhere in between a brownie and a chocolate cake, but not at all like a cakey brownie - does that make sense? Anyway, I had much more success with chocolate brownie pie and the dairy free version actually tasted even better!

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to take a class on gluten free baking taught by Gluten Free Girl & The Chef at The Pantry at Delancy. The two most valuable take aways I had from that class were first, don't be afraid to experiment and second, gluten free doughs will look completely different from gluten-full dough. From here I was off, experimenting with bread with much more confidence and determination. I tried to take some cue's from the best gluten free bread I had even eaten, the honey oat bread from Jenny Mae's, incorporating oat flour and lots of eggs.

RecipesAdina Marguerite PeaseMarch 28, 2012Baking, Bread, Gluten Free, Goat Milk Comments

Breakfast Crepes Three Ways

Today is a big day, my first Gluten Free Ratio Rally! I feel fortunate and encouraged to be part of this community of ratio experimenters! T.R. from No One Likes Crumbley Cookies hosted this months rally for gluten free crepes and I've include a list of all the other delicious recipes at the very bottom of this post.

My journey with gluten free crepes really started in January, after I had recovered from the holidays and set about learning to use the new crepe pan that my mom and step-dad got me for Christmas. It's the kind that you just dip into a shallow plate or bowl and the batter sticks to form a thin crepe. My mom had one of these and I've always envied it. The recipe I used in the beginning was one included in the packaging, just adapted to be gluten and dairy free. When I weighed all the individual ingredients, a clean ratio did not appear. So I threw out everything that I had been doing and started from scratch.

When I think of crepes, I think of breakfast and lingonberries, so my crepes are similar to a thin version of my pancakes. I ended up settling on the original ratio from Micheal Ruhlman's Ratio; 1 part flour : 2 parts liquid : 2 parts egg with an added 60 grams of coconut oil, 45 grams of sugar, and 32 grams of flaxseed meal. This recipe makes about 15 crepes which seems to be enough to snack on along the way, breakfast for two very hungry adults, and several folded up as snacks for later.

Coconut Chicken Strips

I struggle with eating meat, but it's also important to me that I get enought protein in my diet. These homemade chicken strips have been a quick and easy way to integrate some lean protein into our weekly meals. The coconut flakes and oil add a very subtle by fun twist.

RecipesAdina Marguerite PeaseMarch 2, 2012Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Poultry, Soy FreeComment

Salmon & Olive Sandwich Spread

This spread was one of my favorite's growing up. My mom used to make it with tuna and we would eat it on delicious San Francisco sourdough (the only gluten filled thing I crave and miss). When I stopped eating dairy, I thought I had lost the spread forever (now thinking about it, I supposed I could have tried to use Tofutti back when I was still eating soy - by the way, Tofutti is probably the only soy filled thing I miss and crave. Since moving to Seattle, I've actually found goat's milk cream cheese that I can use and developed a gluten free bread recipe that's pretty darn good - recipe coming soon!

RecipesAdina Marguerite PeaseFebruary 29, 2012Fish, Gluten Free, Goat Milk, LunchComment

Kale & Red Rice Salad

This quick salad is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to eat for lunch. I recently picked up a bag of Lotus Foods Bhutan Red Rice after I discovered it's cooking time to be only 30 minutes! We're generally a strong brown rice household, but requires at least 2 hours of rice cooker time. So when we're in a pinch for a quick meal (almost every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night - during our 2 hour we're both home at the same time rush) brown rice just won't cut it.

RecipesAdina Marguerite PeaseFebruary 24, 2012Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Salad, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian Comments

Whole Grain Blueberry Scones

RecipesAdina Marguerite PeaseFebruary 1, 2012Baking, Breakfast, Gluten FreeComment

welcome to the blog