Category Archives: Uncategorized

Gluten free lemon curd cheesecake

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Decadence is the only word to describe this luscious dessert. I rarely eat cheesecake but after searching around, I was taken in by the lemon curd addition that would otherwise be an ordinary cheesecake. After modifying the crust to suite my gluten free needs and lightening the fat content as best as I could, I still found this cake to be extremely smooth, rich and satisfying. This was served with a lovely pot roast and really finished off the meal nicely.

 

Gluten free lemon curd cheesecake
 
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Author:
Recipe type: gluten free dessert
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • Lemon curd:
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 TBLS unsalted butter
  • Zest from one lemon
  • Crust:
  • 11/2 cups ground almond flour
  • 2 TBLS melted butter
  • ⅓ cup sugar if desired
  • Filling:
  • 3 8oz packages of light cream cheese
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ cup of sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 9 - 91/2 inch spring form pan
  • Serve with warm blueberries, whipped cream and sliced almonds with a dash of nutmeg
Instructions
  1. When making the curd, place a stainless steel bowl over a pot half full of water.
  2. Add zest, eggs, sugar and lemon juice and whisk up until smooth
  3. Turn stove to high and keep whisking until curd begins to thicken (5-10 min)
  4. Add butter and mix in until well blended
  5. Remove from heat and scrape into bowl and allow to cool completely
  6. For crust mix almond flour with 2 TBLS melted butter and mix well.
  7. Press into the base of pan
  8. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and remove to cool completely
  9. Reduce oven to 300 degrees
  10. Beat together softened cream cheese and sugar in bowl until smooth( 2-3 minutes)
  11. Beat in sour cream and vanilla
  12. Pour ⅔ of cream mixture into crust, then spoon half of lemon curd and swirl into filling with a small knife(avoid crust to get crumbs in filling)
  13. Repeat with remaining filling and curd.
  14. Bake cheesecake until center trembles when pan gently shaken (1hour and 15 minutes)
  15. Cake center will continue to set once removed
  16. Cool completely 2 hours uncovered
  17. Then chill uncovered at least 4 hours
  18. Serve with warm blueberries and cream with a few sliced almonds
  19. Cheesecake can be made up to 2 days before serving (chilled loosely covered)

 

Gluten free meat lasagne

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When you have many guests to feed during family gatherings, I find lasagne always comes in handy. Although there is some prep work with pre-making the meat sauce,  using oven ready gluten free noodles saves time and fuss and I find the results outstanding. This recipe is easy to make and always delicious. If you make the meat sauce the night before and let if rest overnight, I find the flavours are even better to assemble the next day.  If you have left over sauce, you can always freeze it and use for a spaghetti sauce another time. Remember to put a layer of sauce down first, then the oven ready brown rice noodles followed by meat sauce, gluten free bechemal and prewashed spinach. Keep going until you run out of noodles. Make sure the noodles are completely covered in sauce or they will burn. I like to finish with a top layer of meat sauce, bechemal and a layer of mozzarella. Cover loosely with foil and place in center rack of preheated oven. If you have a big lasagne pan like I do, it takes a good hour for the noodles to cook through. Near the end, you can remove the foil and leave in another 15 or 20 minutes so the top is nicely browned. This tastes even better the next day to reheat.

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Gluten free meat lasagne
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 lb beef
  • 1 lb pork
  • 2 small diced onions
  • 6-10 cloves of garlic depending on your taste
  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 TBLS dried basil
  • 1 TBLS thyme
  • 2 sticks diced celery
  • 2 large diced carrots
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Bechemel:
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 TBLS brown rice flour
  • ½ cup grated cheddar
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • Prewashed dryed spinach
  • 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
  1. Add diced onions and garlic to a hot dutch oven or large pot with a little olive oil
  2. Add in diced carrots and celery and brown
  3. Add pork and beef and cook until browned
  4. Add basil, thyme,bay leaves and salt and pepper
  5. Add 1 28 fl oz san marzano tomatoes(if you can find them)
  6. Add 1 28 fl oz crushed tomotoes
  7. Simmer sauce for at least an hour until flavours blend.
  8. Season to taste and set on low
  9. Prepare bechemal as listed heating 2 cups of milk adding 2 TBLS brown rice flour
  10. Whisk until thickened
  11. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg or other seasonings to taste along with ¼ cup grated cheese until melted
  12. Set aside bechemal to cool
  13. Use a large lasagne pan that serves 6
  14. To prevent sticking to bottom of the pan, add a layer of sauce to the bottom of dish and then a layer of oven ready brown rice noodles
  15. Add another layer of sauce followed by a third of cream sauce poured evenly over
  16. Add a layer of spinach and repeat noodles, meat, sauce and spinach
  17. Depending on how deep your dish, you might just have room for another layer of noodles, then meat and sauce followed by the top layer of grated cheese
  18. Cover with foil and bake in middle rack at 400 degrees for 60 minutes.
  19. Remove foil about 25 min before ending so the top is browned nicely
  20. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes until serving.

 

Gluten free oatmeal cookies

desserts, snacks, Uncategorized, , ,

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Cookies are a part of my son’s daily staple at his request. My celiac father-in-law loves these , too, as he says they remind him of the cookies his mom used to make. I take that as a compliment as his face lights up every time I bring over them over. I’ve replaced traditional butter and oil with coconut oil and added ground flax for added nutrition. This makes about 2 dozen.

gluten free oatmeal cookies
 
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Gluten free oatmeal cookies
Author:
Recipe type: gluten free
Ingredients
  • 11/2 cups brown rice flour
  • 11/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ coconut oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 TBLS ground flax
  • ½ cup dark mini chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in the middle
  2. Mix flour,oats,cinnamon,baking soda,salt,chocolate chips
  3. Melt coconut oil if solidified and beat with brown sugar and egg
  4. Add to dry ingredients and mix until well blended
  5. If too wet, put in the fridge for 10 min. to solidify more
  6. Scoop out 1 TBLS balls of dough and roll till round
  7. Use fork to flatten cookies and place on ungreased cookie sheet
  8. Bake 12 minutes and cook before removing

 

Gluten free crepes

breakfast, gluten-free, recipes, snacks, Uncategorized
Gluten free crepes
 
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Recipe type: Gluten free crepes
Cuisine: breakfast
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • ½ cup brown rice flour
  • ½ cup tapioca flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk or almond milk
  • 1 TBLS
  • 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
  1. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
  2. Heat non stick frying pan and add a little coconut oil just before adding crepe
  3. Use soup ladle for the crepe mixture and pour into pan tilting it around as you go to get it as thin as possible.
  4. Flip and cook the other side and continue

I used to love eating crepes until I got off wheat. I decided to create this gluten free version which is surprisingly similar. The tapioca flour is light enough that the crepes have an excellent texture. I like to add yogurt and blueberries when  homemade jam to the middles and roll up and drizzle with maple syrup. My son loves these!

Caribbean squash soup

candida, dinner, gluten-free, recipes, Uncategorized

This soup is so delicious and nutty. I love to make it on a snowy winter day and spice it up with some caribbean hot sauce.

Caribbean squash soup
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Squash soup
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 roasted acorn squash
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 2 chopped onions
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • ½ teaspoon celery seeds
  • 2 fresh chopped fresh tomatoes
  • 5 cups kitchen basics chicken stock ( or vegetable stock)
  • ⅓ cup dry white wine
  • 1 TBLS honey
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Cut squash in half and roast at 400 degrees until soft in the center. Let cool
  2. Throw chopped onions,garlic and tomato in a pot
  3. Scoop out squash and add to pot
  4. Add box of chicken stock
  5. Add wine, cinnamon,honey and salt and pepper
  6. Simmer for at least 30 minutes until onions are soft
  7. Remove bay leaves and use hand stick blender to puree all ingredients
  8. Add cream and a dash of carribean hot sauce just before serving.
  9. Delicious!

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You’ve got to get the West Indian Hot sauce..it really makes the soup! enjoy.

 

New Orleans inspired beans and rice

dinner, gluten-free, recipes, Uncategorized,

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 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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