Monthly Archives: January 2014

Authentic french baguette

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Although typically I only do gluten free breads , every once in a while I get the craving to make a beautiful loaf of baguette .  My son and and husband love this bread and gobble it up every time. This bread is light with airy bubbles and a wonderful crunchy crust. I like to make this recipe 6 baguettes at a time and freeze them. Whenever there’s a last minute dinner party, I just grab one from the freezer and put in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and it tastes as fresh as the day I made it. Like the traditional french bakers of France , it’s about taking your time and letting the dough rest at least 12 hours so the gluten is more elastic . This recipe is fun and easy and requires almost no kneeding. Just get this dough ready about an hour before you go to bed, stick it in the fridge and take it out the next day when you’re ready to begin baking.   Although I originally made this bread on a cookie sheet, I find a perforated pan gives a much more consistent loaf every time.  I use this same recipe for pizza dough and use a pizza stone for baking. Enjoy!

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Authentic french baguette
 
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Recipe type: French Baguette
Cuisine: French bread
Ingredients
  • 31/2 cups unbleached white flour
  • 31/2 cups wholewheat flour
  • 4 tsp salt
  • 31/3 cups of warm water
  • ½ tsp yeast
  • 1 TBLS honey
Instructions
  1. Put flour and salt in large tupperware bucket with lid
  2. Put 1⅔ cups warm water with ½ tsp yeast and 1 TBLS honey.
  3. Let yeast proof for 10 minutes
  4. Add proofed yeast and an additional 12/3 cups warm water to flour
  5. Use your hands to mix dough.
  6. Add extra water to make it a very wet consistency
  7. Mix well and let rest 20 minutes
  8. Turn dough every 20 minutes for 1 hour then put in the fridge overnight with lid loose on top
  9. Leave in fridge at least 12 hours
  10. Remove from fridge next day and cut into 6 equal portions
  11. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  12. Stretch out each piece into long baguette shape and dip in flour
  13. Stretch out 3 long loaves and leave on baguette pan for 30 minutes
  14. Spray pans with pam to ensure they don't stick
  15. Slash loaves closely with bread knife just before putting in oven
  16. Put tray of water at base of oven and mist loaves just before putting in oven
  17. Cook 25 minutes and remove when loaves brown and crusty.
  18. Repeat process with second batch of loaves if only have 3 loaf pan

baguette2Proof yeast

bagette4Add proofed yeast and water and thoroughly mix dough until wet.

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Turn dough 4 times every 20 minutes for 1 hour.

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After at least 12 hours, remove dough from fridge and cut into 6 portions . Let rest 1 hour until warm.

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Dip dough in flour and shape into loaves and let rest 30 minutes in baguette pan

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Draw flour across top of loaves and slash with close vertical cuts.  Place one rack above middle and bake for 25minutes. Don’t forget to mist with water to give it that crunch and add a tray of water at the bottom if you don’t have convection.

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First batch is out. Dump and replay from the beginning. Yum yum everytime.

New Orleans inspired beans and rice

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After going down to New Orleans and feasting on crayfish and beans and rice, I was hooked on this unique southern creole flavour that is rich, smoky and quite frankly addictive. Of course, salt seems to be one of the primary ingredients in this trilogy spice blend but I’ve taken out the salt and made my own version that is spicy and delicious.   Having busy lives and impatient children makes me realize how many fast, go to meals I make that are abundant  and  flavourful . Stew pot meals seem to be the most efficient when everyone is crying at the same time. I  made a de-spiced version of this meal for my son and he said he loved it. I guess I’ll have to work him up to the cayenne pepper. This meal is quick, easy and always delicious.

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Here is the recipe for Southern Beans and Rice:

Minced white onion

3-4 cloves if minced garlic

Diced green pepper

2 cans of Red kidney beans rinsed

2 cans of Diced Tomatoes

1 minced bunch parsely

2 heaping tablespoons of creole ‘essence’ spice blend. *(see below)

*This is a modified version of Emerill’s creole seasoning. I ditched the salt, onion and garlic powder and replaced them with fresh when cooking. This can be kept in a sealed jar for future use.

2 1/2 TBLS paprika

1 TBLS ground black pepper

1 TBLS cayenne pepper

1 TBLS oregano

1 TBLS thyme

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I bought a quality gluten free garlic sausage from a local company. I know it has nitrites in it but sometimes, I just crave sausage. You can always replace this with fresh sausage but it won’t quite be the same. I split the sausage in half and grill it under the broiler for about 10 minutes to make it crispy and drain any fat. It’s pretty lean stuff but it makes me feel better. In a big stew pot, I add the onions and garlic and fry up until clear. I slice up the sausage into large chunks and throw in the rest of the ingredients. I stir it all up and add about 2 tablespoons of the creole seasoning. You can add as much as you like..it depends how spicy you like it! I add about a tsp or so or rock salt. Once again, it depends on your tastes.  Put the lid on and leave to simmer for at least 40 minutes on medium heat. In the meantime, get a pot of parboiled rice or brown rice going so they’ll all be ready at the same time. This is pure comfort food for me and tastes even better the next day. Enjoy!

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Gluten free candida free dal curry

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This curry is my quick and dirty go to recipe when there’s very little in the fridge but lentils and rice. It cost pennies to make and goes along way on a budget. It’s quick  and easy to make and always satisfying. If you like it spicy, you can always add extra chilies.

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I found a tomato in the fridge along with some wilted cilantro and sliced up some onions and minced ginger. The key to making this flavorful is to fry up the spices first to activate  their flavor.  This serves 4 people and there’s lot of leftovers for lunch the next day.  You can always half the recipe if you want to make less.

Here’s the recipe for Curry Dal:

2  cups red lentils

4 tsp mustard seed

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

2 or 3 TBLS minced cilantro

3 TBLS grated or finely minced ginger. ( you can always put in less but I love the taste of ginger.

4 tsps Tumeric

1 minced tomato

8 cups water ( you can add more water if you want a thinner result)

Add salt to taste once cooked.

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Once you get your pan heated, throw in the onions and stir around until clearish. You can then add the mustard seed and fry up until it starts to pop. Then add all spices and stir up. You can then throw in the lentils, tomato and cilantro and top up with water and leave to cook with the lid on medium heat for about 45 minutes.  I add about 3 tsp of coarse salt at  the end to taste. Serve this with some steamed brown basmati rice and drizzle with yogurt or kefir and you have a great comfort meal every time. dal4dal5

Gluten free candida flank steak marinade

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I love love flank steak because it is so flavorful and can be extremely tender as long as you marinate overnight before cooking. This recipe has been adapted for gluten free and can be easily modified for a strict candida diet which I was on for quite some time. I buy my meat from the local butcher that is organic and hormone free.

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I like to use balsamic vinegar but this could easily be replaced with natural apple cider vinegar which works on a candida diet. The apple cider doesn’t have the sweet depth of balsamic but still breaks down the muscle of the meat. Also, if you would prefer to switch the dijon for the candida diet, you can use Keen’s dry mustard .

Here is the flank steak marinade recipe:

1 lemon squeezed

1/2 cup olive oil

3 crushed cloves of garlic

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar or ( natural apple cider vinegar)

1 large tablespoon of french dijon mustard or ( keen’s dry mustard)

1/2 tsp of pepper

1/2 tsp coarse salt

Whisk all the ingredients together. Make sure you slash the steak at a 45 degree angle on the muscle side to make sure the vinegar penetrates.

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Add the marinade to pan and generously coat meat on either side before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating overnight

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Take out of the fridge and let warm. Preheat oven to broil or 500 degrees and place rack in stove closest to broiler. Cook 10-12 minutes on each side depending on thickness of meat. For medium, meat should feel firm like the end of your nose. Take out and let rest for 10-15 minutes. You can make gravy by heating up 2 cups of kitchen basics beef stock with 1 large tbls spoons of cornstarch or 2 heaping tsps of arrowroot flour. Add drippings to gravy and let cook 10-15 minutes. Serve with roast potatoes and garlic lemon green beans and enjoy. If you have leftovers, you can make philly cheesesteak sandwiches or beef tacos..yum.

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Gluten free swedish meatballs

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In my pre candida days, I had the regrettable experience of ordering the swedish meatballs at Ikea. I hadn’t ordered these in years and had a fond memory of this comfort food. To my horror, these rubbery salty balls didn’t even resemble meatballs but some sort of commercial by product. I was inspired to recreate this old classic with quality ingredients and gluten free to boot.  I had to think of a way to substitute bread crumbs for a gluten free product. Brown rice flour works nicely and holds the meat together.

Although I do try to avoid pork, every so often I get a craving and have to satisfy my need. I go to my favorite butcher, Windsor meats, and they sell a local, organic  pork and beef that has loads of flavor. Mixing pork and beef always creates a more flavorful meatball..ask the italians!

swedish meatballs

To make dinner for 4, I like to use 2 lbs of meat and there are even left overs!

Here is the recipe for gluten free swedish meatballs:

1 lb ground organic pork

1 lb ground organic beef

1 egg

3 tbls brown rice flour( you can add more if it seems too wet)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground pepper

3 minced garlic cloves

2 tbls cornstarch or 4 tsp arrowroot flour

1 tsp thyme

1/4 cup of half and half cream

4 cups beef stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all above ingredients to get a wet meaty mixture. Form into 1 inch balls and put on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven on the  middle oven rack and cook each side about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. If you’re worried they’re not quite cooked, don’t worry, they be heated in the beef sauce.

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In the meantime get your peeled potatoes boiling..these take about 20 minutes.

Mince 1 medium onion and 2 cloves of garlic and fry in the pan for about 10 minutes until golden. Add 4 cups of beef stock to the pan. I like to use kitchen basics as it is gluten free and quite flavorful. For this recipe I used corn starch to thicken the sauce but if you’re on a strict candida diet, I would recommend arrowroot flour which also works. Just take a bit of the stock out of the pan in a measuring cup and add flour until well mixed. Add it back to the sauce and whisk in until all the lumps are broken down. This sauce takes at least 20 minutes for the sauce to thicken.

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Add the meatballs to the sauce and let simmer about 15 to 20 minutes. Near the end, I like to add about 2 large tablespoons of my homemade tayeberry jam. Canned cranberry sauce also works nicely. Of course, don’t add the jam if you’re on a candida diet. If you’re feeling indulgent and not dairy intolerant, a dollop of half and half cream tastes great in the sauce. Leave your meat balls to simmer. In meantime, drain your potatoes and mash and season how you like. Get the steamed broccoli ready and your dinner is complete. My husband says this is great comfort food and I have to agree. Enjoy!