Gluten Free Pasta: Homemade

Yeah,  that's right. I made this meal for Girl's Night, and shared it with my non-weird-diet friends! Also.. disregard the overcooked (aka, flattened) ziti.  Still tastes awesome!

My new favorite meal is homemade gluten free pasta.  I have a Cuisinart pasta maker that mixes the dough and expels it out of a die, which makes the whole process super simple.  It should be possible to roll out the dough and cut strips without a pasta maker, too.

I've been using THIS recipe from GlutenFreeGirl. (Scroll down to the recipe in the box.)  I've use garbanzo bean flour instead of garbanzo-fava, and also tapioca starch instead of potato starch.  I did use a baking scale to measure by weight for the flours.

I usually have large eggs (not extra large, as the recipe calls for) at home, so the second time I made the pasta I used 4 egg yolks from large eggs, and 2 large eggs-- it came out the same.  Either way, just adjust the oil and water amounts if it ends up too wet or too dry.

Oozing out of the Cuisinart!

Plate of uncooked pasta.

Seriously, this pasta is delicious.  I eat it with some Spanish olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little basil. --Delish!

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Also:

I found this at my local Healthway:

Conte's frozen gluten free potato gnocchi.  Cooked up in under 10 minutes... I don't get insta-meals very often, so this was awesome. Pretty darn good, too!

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake

My birthday was a couple weeks ago, and I made myself a cake.

Back in the day, when I wanted to make something truly decadent, I used to look up recipes on the Godiva chocolate website (they have a great gourmet recipe selection). Birthday desserts, boyfriend desserts- Godiva had me covered for all of 'em. So, I decided to take on the challenge of adapting a truly decadent chocolate cake recipe.

Also influencing my inspiration- around this time for the past 4 years was Lawnparties at my eating club in Princeton. This involved an enormous brunch with just about every type of gourmet cake / tart imaginable... and thus resulted in a total deterioration of my diet, for at least a couple days. Obviously I had to make a substitute for that experience, too.

So, I present, the best cake EVER, and of course, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free.
I also submitted this recipe for the Daily Dietribe's Gluten-Free Birthday Cake Challege (awesome).

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a round (~9 inch?) springform pan.

LAYER 1: Dense Chocolate Cake

¾ c ghee/coconut oil mix
1 c coconut sugar
¼ c light agave          ---> heat on stove until melted and well-mixed; whisk together/stir continuously. Let cool slightly.

2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla    ---> after wet ingredients cool slightly, whisk in eggs and vanilla

2/3 c flour combination: oat, all-purpose GF, brown rice, millet, tapioca

¼ tsp guar gum

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ c cocoa powder    ---> combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then add them to the wet ingredients. Mix well. 

Pour batter into springform pan, and bake ~30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool in springform pan.

 

LAYER 2: Raspberry Layer

2 c rapsberries
1 tsp powdered chia seeds
½ truvia packet
Stevia dusting       ---> combine all ingredients. I used about half frozen raspberries and half fresh raspberries.

LAYER 3: Chocolate Truffle Ganache Layer

1 c canned coconut milk (the more thick/fatty, the better)
10 oz Sunspire chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla                           ---> heat coconut milk until hot. Pour over chocolate chips, add vanilla, stir until all chips are melted/smooth consistency is obtained. Let cool slightly.

ASSEMBLY:

After cake layer has cooled, (leaving it in spring form pan) spread a thin layer of truffle layer on top (so that raspberry layer won't make cake soggy). Next, spread on raspberry layer. Finally, top with truffle/ganache layer. Place in fridge to chill.

Before serving, remove sides of spring form pan.
Keep chilled before/after serving, or top layer will "sweat."

Hope you enjoy this delicious treat! Everyone's response to it was "I love how buttery the cake tastes!" And I said, "well, there's no butter in it!" Oh, the magic of quality ACD baking! :)












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In other news, I just went to my 1st Princeton Reunion! I'm proud to report that ate and drank (aka, didn't drink) well all weekend. Hooray for good life choices!!

Saturday fireworks show-- Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!!

View of the 5th reunion dancefloor from the Grass Knoll, c. 1am Friday Night.

Orange Sweet Rolls: Pillsbury Style

These are one of my favorite things ever! Easy to make in advance, then pop in the oven for a special brunch. I slightly improved the dough from my cinnamon rolls, and topped with a delicious fresh orange glaze.

THE RECIPE:

The Dough:


½ c tapioca flour
½ c potato starch
¾ c arrowroot powder
¼ cup brown rice flour
1/4 c millet flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp guar gum
2 tsp baking powder            
1 tiny stevia-scoop stevia

3 tbs coconut oil (melted)
2 ½ tbs agave
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs                           --> combine wet ingredients; whisk in egg; add wet to dry


1/4 c almond milk    -->  add milk slowly, until it is dough consistency (a little sticky is ok.)

If dough is too sticky, dust with brown rice flour until it does not stick to your hand/spatula when touched.

--> Tape a sheet of waxed paper down onto a counter/table. Dust with brown rice flour. Place dough in the center, and use a (floured) rolling pin to roll out to ~¼ (or thinner) inch thick rectangle.


Filling:
2 tbs coconut oil (softened)
4 tbs coconut sugar
2 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs agave                        
                   ....or basically any combination of the above ingredients (leaving out the oil works fine too!)

--> Wisk together all ingredients until combined. Use a rubber spatula to spread filling over entire rectangle of dough.

Untape the waxed paper under the sheet of dough. Begin rolling dough “hot-dog style” (AKA, roll the long side, to make a thin, long roll) by lifting the waxed paper and gently coaxing the dough into a tight roll. Since the part of the roll is the tightest, starting it is the trickiest, and after that you can just left the waxed paper and let the log of dough roll on its own.

If making the dough in advance, tape the waxed paper around the log of dough, put plastic wrap around the open ends, and place in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake them, place the roll on a cutting board, and slice into ~1-inch thick rounds. Arrange them evenly spaced in an 8-inch round cake pan. Dough will expand as it cooks, so it's fine if there's extra space in the pan.

Heat oven to 350, and bake for ~30 minutes. Dough will still be soft when it comes out (don't bake until it's hard! 30 minutes max should do it). After removing from the oven, let cool in pan for ~5 minutes (ie, while you make the glaze!).

Glaze:

1 orange
1 tbs agave (preferably "light" agave)
1 tsp ghee, softened
1 tsp chia seeds (to help thicken it)
orange zest (from the rind) to taste (~1/8 tsp)
dash salt (if needed)               ----> puree in blender/food processor (Magic Bullet!)

Let glaze sit for a couple minutes to let the chia seeds work their thickening magic. Then, spread over all rolls in the pan.

Dig in and enjoy the anti-pillsbury deliciousness! (no disrespect to my guy the Doughboy)






 


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It's.... INTERNATIONAL WAFFLE DAY!!! (March 24)

 
and it's time to celebrate!  (I'm posting this a bit in advance, to give ample inspiration for waffley breakfasts tomorrow.)

What a wonderful week. A supermoon, the first day of spring, warm weather, two best friends' birthdays, and International Waffle Day on March 24.

Not gonna lie, I've been waffling all week in anticipation. Monday night I made cinniteff waffle sandwiches with pizza sauce, cheeze, and mixed greens on them. I also came to the discovery that (at least in my belgian waffle maker, with cinniteff waffles) thinner batter makes soft, flexible, moister and lighter waffles, whereas thicker batter (which is what I usually do for breakfasts) makes crispy belgian-style waffles. I liked the lighter option for dinner, when I want proportionally more protein and less carbs. So keep that in mind!

Also, I ran out of teff flour Monday. Which led me to create the above-pictured Goldi-squares Stairway to Waffleheaven #Winning Waffles. We'll just call them #WinningWaffles for short..... (TIGERBLOOD!!!!)

They pretty much are amazing. Light, faintly sweet but still neutral flavor allows for unlimited possibilities. Such as:

PIZZA WAFFLE!!!! huge success. I used Bridgford Turkey Pepperoni, and Prego VeggieSmart sauce. yum.

OMG  it's a WAFFLEDONUT. okay not really, but that's what it tastes like. Just sprinkle on top: Organic cocoa powder, coconut sugar, and shredded coconut. And it tastes like a chocolate powdered sugar donut! Slash some kind of intensely amazing pastry delicacy.


So, for the substrate behind all this madness:

THE RECIPE:

1 egg
1 tbs extra light olive oil  ---> whip together until a bit frothy
up to 3/4 c almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
5 drops stevia
1.5 tbs millet flour
1.5 tbs garbanzo bean flour
1 tbs Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Flour
1 tbs coconut powder (ie, finely shredded coconut/coconut flakes)
scant 1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda     ----> mix all together, pour into [belgian] waffle iron and WAFFLE IT UP!

Ghee (or coconut oil) it after it's off the iron.


#WINNING