Wednesday 10 August 2011

The Best GF Pizza Crust

Hello my friends!

I made lasagna for friends who had a sweet little baby recently (hi Frances!) this morning and made an extra for some of my fam to have for dinner. Its my hubby's birthday and he loves lasagna. So even though we had spaghetti this week, they got lasagna anyway. No complaints though as everyone likes it! I do too and was tempted to eat a piece anyway, but didn't have to think very long before changing my mind! Smart choice :) My stomach is thanking me!

I made a pizza for the little boy and myself. I made this same recipe last week and loved it. I thought about posting it but at the time didn't want to take pics or anything. I just wanted to eat it!!! So I made a few small changes and have it for you today. The pizza I posted a while back was delish but there is just something about a yeasted dough that makes it sooo much better! It doesn't even taste gluten free!!! Or vegan! Thankfully we are okay with yeast... I'm sorry if you're not. Seriously... its very sad for you. But you can make the other crust and still have a yummy pizza!

So, here we go! The dough takes a while to complete (with the rising) so read it all and plan ahead before you decide at the last minute that you want pizza for dinner! Also, the recipe looks a bit complicated but its really not.


sorry for the yellowy pics... not good lighting in the kitchen and the table was already set!

The Best GF Pizza Crust

Place a pizza stone in the oven and turn on to 170F to preheat.

1/4 c warm water (115-120 degrees)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp coconut sugar

Combine above ingredients in a small bowl and allow yeast to proof/foam (usually takes around 10 mins) If yeast doesn't foam, its probably dead or you may have used water that was too hot.

3/4 c tapioca starch (or tapioca flour, same thing)
3/4 c white rice flour
1/2 c brown rice flour
2 tbsp sorghum flour
1 1/2 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 tsp sea salt

Combine these dry ingredients in the bowl of your mixer. Use the paddle attachment to combine on low speed.

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp agave

Combine above ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

1/4 c water
3 tsp egg replacer

Whisk together replacer and water.

Add egg replacer mixture, olive oil mixture and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix on low until mostly combined.

Pour in an extra 1/2 c water and mix well - it will look like cake frosting.

Place a piece of parchment big enough for the pizza stone on the counter and turn dough onto it. Carefully spread dough out evenly.

Place parchment on the hot pizza stone. Turn OFF the oven and place pizza stone back in. Allow dough to rise for 40 mins.

After rising, turn oven on to 375F and pre-bake crust for 12 minutes.

Add sauce and toppings and increase oven temp to 425F. Bake until bubbling and golden (15-20 mins)


on my side - spinach, red pepper, yellow zucchini, mushrooms, pineapple and moz daiya 'cheese'

Sunday 7 August 2011

Allergy Free Brownies (Gluten Free and Vegan)



For the love of all things delicious.... make these brownies!!!

I had begun to think that I would never taste another brownie again - unless I wanted to double over in pain afterward. I stumbled across this recipe on the interwebs and had to modify it a bit to make fudgey fantastic brownies. They came together in a snap and the hardest part was waiting for them to cool!

Allergy Free Brownies

1/3 c brown rice flour
1/3 c white rice flour
1/3 c sorghum flour
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 c dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 c oil
1/4 c brown rice syrup (or date syrup, if you have it)
1/4 c agave nectar
1/4 c maple syrup
1/4 c unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 c water

Preheat your oven to 350.
Line an 8x8 pan with parchment or foil.
Whisk dry ingredients together in one bowl.
In another bowl whisk together wet ingredients - it will be sticky but then smooth out.
Add wet to dry and combine with a spatula.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth out.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Let cool completely before cutting.

Notes:
You can use 1 c all purpose flour instead of the other flours and xanthan gum.
After I poured in the canola oil I realized that I should have tried it with coconut oil - let me know if you test it out with coconut oil before I get a chance to!





Now please excuse me while I go eat the rest of the pan, if there's any left... I wonder if I have an coconut milk ice cream in the freezer?

Friday 5 August 2011

Cherry Crisp

Hello lovely people!

This afternoon was a long one and I think I deserve a little time sitting with my feet up and writing a post! I just spend 4 hours in the kitchen prepping, chopping and cooking three different versions of dinner for my family. I haven't even tackled the dishes yet... that will be at least another hour! Gah! Cooking for the 6 of us is a huge challenge. Sometimes I just want to throw in the towel and order pizza but even that doesn't help! Four out of 6 are allowed pizza. Tonight's dinner was something simple, you'd think, pasta! Love it! But I have to make meat sauce for J and the kids and veggie sauce for me. Also wheat pasta for J, the girls and Boy1 and rice pasta for Boy2 and myself. Today I went crazy and made pasta bakes in a effort to get some of the dishes done before dinner was served. I think I made a small dent... But I had to make 3 pasta bakes... meat+wheat+cheddar, meat+rice+daiya and veggie+rice+daiya. Thank goodness there are leftovers!!! My sauce was lovely. I've been trying to eat more veggies that I don't like or haven't given myself a chance to like. Mushrooms are one. But I diced 'em up small along with red and green peppers, yellow zucchini and broccoli stems (the rest of the broccoli I blanched and served along side dinner) and the sauce was yummy! I don't really know what to do with the rest of the mushrooms but I'll figure something out.

I bought a ginormous bucket of pitted tart cherries at Loblaws on quicksale (50% off) for $11!!!! Talk about a steal! I've loaded up the freezer with bags for smoothies (they make an awesome smoothie along with banana, spinach and a splash of pom juice!) I figured I'd better do some baking with the rest!




Cherry Crisp

5 c tart cherries, pitted (thawed and drained if using frozen)
1/2 - 3/4 c agave nectar (depending on how tart your cherries are)
3 tbsp arrowroot starch or cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

Topping

1 c Namaste perfect flour blend
1 c gluten free oats
1/2 c coconut sugar or sucanat
1/4 c coconut flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 c coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl combine cherries and agave. Sprinkle arrowroot over top and stir well. Add in extracts and salt and combine. Pour into a large baking dish.
In a medium bowl combine flours, oats, sugar and salt. Pour oil in a little at a time, tossing after each addition. Once its all added you should have a crumby mixture and no dry flour.
Pour crumbs over the cherry mixture.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until bubbling and golden brown.



*tap tap*
Is this thing on?!
If you enjoy reading my blog, I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment! :)