Walnut Squares

Posted on April 3, 2010 by Deanna

 

Walnut Square

Walnut Square

We’ve been eating mostly vegan lately. It all started with that Quantum Wellness Cleanse, and I felt so good I just didn’t want to go back.  The other day, though, our good friend Ronna stopped by with a dozen eggs for us. Ronna raises a few chickens in her yard. Let me tell you, these are some spoiled chickens. Of course they have the run of the yard. That’s to be expected. But, in the winter, there’s always at least one that winds up living in Ronna’s house with her. The oldest, saddest chicken gets the glory. This winter, she had two in there. And this spring, they’re rewarding her (and us) with beautiful brown eggs, with thick shells and deep saffron yolks. I don’t think I’ll ever turn down a dozen of Ronna’s chicken eggs.

 

About the same time, another friend sent me home with a couple of pounds of walnuts. It seems a local restaurant closed and gave all their leftover food to a local food pantry where she worked. Some things, due to packaging and health restrictions, couldn’t be used for the food pantry, and she wound up with a commercial-sized bag of walnuts. She loves walnuts as much as the next person, but 6 pounds seemed  a bit much. So I reaped the benefit there, too.

Walnuts and eggs…walnuts and eggs…what to do with them.

In a third stroke of serendipity, I had just picked up a new cookbook – The Best Ever Wheat and Gluten Free Baking Book by Mary Ann Wenniger with Mace Wenniger. I’d yet to make anything from it, so I started flipping through it and happened on her walnut squares recipe. 4 eggs? Check. A cup of walnuts? Check. Yep, this sounds like a winner. And oh what a winner it is. Light and fluffy and slightly sweet – they’re a hit with everyone in the family. I did make a couple of tweaks (don’t I always?) which are noted below in the recipe. I’m sure I’ll be baking more from this book, and you’ll be hearing more from me on the subject soon.

Walnut Squares

The Best Ever Wheat and Gluten Free Baking Book (with slight adaptations)
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup (100 g) plain California walnuts
2 T. potato starch
2 1/2 t. GF baking powder
1/2 cup (150 g) sugar (I used palm sugar here)

Wet Ingredients
4 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease one 8 inch square baking pan. (I lined the pan with a piece of parchment that hung over 2 sides.) Place walnuts, potato starch and baking powder in the blender and blend until finely ground. (I used a food processor.) Add eggs, sugar and vanilla and continue blending until mixture is smooth. Pour into greased pan. Bake at 325° for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and bake for another 20 minutes at 225°. (Here’s where that parchment came in handy. I just loosened the 2 edges and lifted the parchment out and set the whole thing on a cookie sheet. I’m not sure how it would work otherwise.) When cool, cut int squares and add frosting. (I did not cut them into squares before adding frosting.)

A Quick Frosting
7-8 counces (200-225 g) GF semisweet chocoloate
1/2 cup (112 g) butter (I used coconut oil.)
1/2 t. GF vanilla extract

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Add butter and vanilla. Beat until thick. Add chopped nuts. Spread on cake.

Nutritional Analysis: Assuming 12 squares per pan, each has 176 calories, 11.9 g fat, 2.4 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber.

Note that the yield on the walnut squares was 12 and the yield on the frosting recipe was 24. So, I cut the frosting recipe in half. I still felt like it was more frosting than was needed. Mine also never got really thick – probably because coconut oil has a lower melting temp than butter and my coconut oil basically melted in the chocolate. If I were to do it again, I’d make a whipped ganache of chocolate and coconut milk (recipe for that on another day).

Posted in chocolate, desserts | 2 Comments

Cilantro Lime Cashew Cream

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Deanna
Cilantro Lime Cashew Cream

Cilantro Lime Cashew Cream

Okay, I admit it. This isn’t exactly earth-shatteringly original. Every vegan worth her tofu knows that cashews make an excellent dairy alternative. A quick google search for “cashew sour cream” yields 181,000 hits. But, that’s not going to stop me from posting my version. See, I’ve not had the best of luck with the really original stuff I’ve been working on the last few weeks. My waffles keep sticking. My multi-grain sandwich rolls are too heavy. That new soup we tried was fine, but nothing memorable. But, this stuff? This stuff is tasty. I’ve made it a bunch of times now, with slight variations. We’ve drizzled it on enchiladas, smeared it on tostadas, dunked our chips in it, and tonight we slathered it on sandwiches. It’s super forgiving. While you should really soak the cashews, when I made this batch it was a last-minute thing. I took the cashews straight from the freezer. It still worked. So, the next time your gluten free or vegan experiments fail, whip up a batch. It’s sure to put a smile on the face of any gluten free, dairy free momma.

Cilantro Lime Cashew Cream

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup of water (approximately)
juice of 1/2 lime
1 medium garlic clove
1/4 – 1/2 t. salt
a few sprigs of cilantro

Toss all ingredients in the blender and blend away. Add more water for a thinner consistency. Note that it will thicken in the fridge. This batch was pourable when first made, and spreadable the next day. For best results, soak the cashews for 8 hours and use the soaking water for blending.

Posted in sauces, vegan | 2 Comments

Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger: She Let Them Eat Cake

Posted on March 27, 2010 by Deanna

Being new to this whole gluten-free way of life, I’ve been stalking the gluten-free blogs out there. I’ve filled my google reader with RSS feeds and drool daily at all the beautiful images of delicious dishes that are safe for me to eat. And, I’m cooking and baking more than ever. So, when I stumbled on The Book of Yum’s Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger event, it only made sense to participate. It also just so happened that last weekend I was participating in Louder Guitars and More Lemon Bars a benefit show and bake sale for a local couple struggling with cancer. Wait. Baking gluten-free for a bake sale? Surely you jest! Nope. The organizer even asked people to mark their baked goods with a G in a circle if their items were gluten-free. How cool is that?

Quinoa Cookies

Quinoa Cookies

Anyway, I went in search of a gluten-free blogger that had some good looking baked goods. I landed on the appropriately titled blog, http://www.sheletthemeatcake.com/. I’m a cookie monster, and so are the other members of my family. So, the first thing that drew my attention was the Quinoa Chocolate Chip cookies. Now, I have to confess – quinoa isn’t my favorite thing in the world. I’m trying to like it, because it’s really really good for you. And, since I’m eating mostly vegan these days, it would be a great source of protein. I figured maybe in a cookie, quinoa would be more enticing. The verdict? Love the cookie, still don’t like the quinoa. The cookies bake up crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, exactly like a good cookie should. They are not too sweet, with that wonderful brown sugar sort of flavor that succanat can impart. The chocolate chips were the perfect amount. But, and it’s a big but, I could still taste that dusty taste of quinoa. *sigh* I will definitely be trying this recipe again with some gluten-free oats (a substitution recommended by Maggie). And, I’ll probably be stealing her proportions and techniques for some additional cookie variations as well. Thanks, Maggie!

Maggie is one of the many gluten-free bloggers that has created her own all-purpose flour mix. I’ve yet to do that. I’m enjoying trying a lot of variations of flours. My stash of gluten-free flour is an ever-expanding store house of powdery yumminess. The upside to creating an all-purpose flour mix is that once you have it whipped up, it’s easy to grab and use in a variety of baked goods. The downside is that if you use someone elses mix, well, then,  you’re obligated to try some more recipes uniquely suited to that mix. Wait – that’s not a downside, exactly, is it?

TWF Chocolate Cake

TWF Chocolate Cake

The next thing that drew my attention was the TWF Chocolate Cake. I’m not a huge fan of cake, but the kiddo loves cake. He really wanted me to make cupcakes for the bake sale. So, I thought I’d try this recipe in cupcake shape. After mixing up the dough, I quickly realized that this wasn’t going to work as cupcakes. The batter is thick and rich – not pourable at all. So, I abandoned my plans to mess with the baking style and grabbed an 8 x 8 pan, as was suggested. After baking as directed, and letting the cake cool thoroughly, I was able to cut and remove pieces without too much crumbling. A word of warning, I sneaked a small piece while it was still warm, and at that stage, the cake crumbled uncontrollably. I didn’t much care, though, because it was good – rich, gooey chocolate goodness. I didn’t frost these. Personally, I would call them brownies, but delicious brownies. The rest of the family got a taste test and everyone agreed they were delicious.

By this time, I was done baking for the bake sale. (I also made gingerbread cut-out cookies from Cake and Commerce, which were a real hit in the house as well.) But, I still had more of that all purpose flour mix. The day after the bake sale was a furlough day for me, so I woke up early and whipped up the vegan version of Maggie’s pancake recipe. I’m not sure I’ve ever made pancakes before that contained no leavening. One thing that I have noticed when making gluten-free pancakes, though, is that leavening contributes to crumbling. So, this recipe intrigued me due to its lack of leavening. And, I just happened to have a big tub of soy yogurt that I wasn’t getting through as quickly as I would have liked. She’s right that these are easy to throw together. One bowl, a whisk and just a few measuring utensils is all it takes. The batter is thick, and cooks slowly and works best as small pancakes. Unfortunately, the primary pancake eater in my house gave these a thumbs down. “Too sour, Mom,” he said. I had to agree. He’s used to pancakes with cinnamon or banana or some other strong, sweet flavor. These are a more sophisticated grown-up flavored pancake. Perhaps they would have worked better with a sweetened soy yogurt, or one with fruit. We won’t be making them again, though I might try the approach of leaving the leavening out of other pancake recipes to see what happens.

Posted in chocolate, cookies, desserts | 2 Comments

Indian-Spiced Peas and Tofu

Posted on March 20, 2010 by Deanna

I love Indian food. No, I mean I really LOVE Indian food. It’s somewhat of a problem, actually. I think I’d be quite happy moving to Indian and noshing on curries and pakora and creamy rice pudding for the rest of my days. Oh wait, except for that little problem I have with dairy products. *sigh* Oh sure, there are a lot of Indian foods that don’t use dairy. But the creamy curries – they’re my favorites. Never fear, our good old friend coconut milk comes to the rescue again. You’re going to think that we use coconut milk every day. It’s not true. We don’t. It just happens that we’ve had two meals this week that were worthy of sharing, and both just happened to involve coconut milk. You can feel free to make better choices than me, though. Variety is good and all that.

Anyway, this dish is riff on the classic peas and paneer (Matar Paneer) and  Madhur Jaffey’s Malaidar Matar (Peas with Whole Cumin and Mustard Seeds) from her book Spice Kitchen. I love her recipes. If you haven’t tried any, I urge you to run out right now and pick up one of her many books. Delicious and rich, we serve this dish over some fresh basmati rice.

Indian Spiced Peas and Tofu

Indian Spiced Peas and Tofu

Indian-Spiced Peas and Tofu

1/4 t. sugar
1/2 t. ground cumin (fresh ground is best)
1/2 t. garam masala
3/4 t. salt
1/4 – 1/2 t. cayenne pepper
1 T. tomato paste
2 T. water
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 T. lemon juice
2 T. chopped cilantro
1/3 of a  jalapeno, minced
1/2 pound firm tofu, cut into 1 inch squares
4 cups frozen peas
3 T. vegetable oil
1/2 t. cumin seeds
1/2 t. brown mustard seeds

In a measuring cup, combine the sugar, ground cumin, garam masala, salt, cayenne pepper and tomato paste. Slowly add 2 T. water, mixing as you go. Add the coconut milk and mix. Add the lemon juice, cilantro and jalapeno. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. When hot, put in the cumin and mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the tofu. Cook for a few minutes on each side (a little browning of the tofu is good).

Add the peas. Be careful, the oil will splatter a bit when you do that.  Stir and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the spice and coconut milk mixture. Cook  until coconut milk begins to thicken.

Serve over fresh basmati rice.

Posted in Indian, tofu, vegan | 8 Comments

Vegan Pizza with Broccoli, Tomato, and Basil

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Deanna

When I decided to go vegan and gluten free, my family was incredibly supportive. It didn’t take them long to see how much better I felt, and how much happier I was. It wasn’t much of a hard sell. But, my son especially, said, “does this mean no more pizza? ever?” Well, that just couldn’t happen, now, could it? So, I set out in search of a suitable vegan, gluten free pizza. Thankfully, if you google that term, you wind up at the Book of Yum – a great blog filled with recipes I have on my “to try” list. First up, of course, was her pizza recipe. This is actually the second time I’ve made it. The first time, my husband thought we should try some soy mozzarella. Meh. That was okay, but tasted a bit too artificial for my tastes. This time we went with a lovely cashew version of her ricotta “cheese.” I won’t repeat the recipe here, as it’s basically exactly how she wrote it, subbing cashews for pine nuts. I did soak the cashews for several hours before grinding them. I find that soaking them produces a creamier end product.

The crust recipe I tweaked a bit. I didn’t want to make quite so much this time. So, I cut the recipe in half, reduced the xanthan gum to 2 t. and left out the Italian herbs. Unfortunately, this isn’t a recipe that reduces all that well, and I ended up adding back in more garfava flour and some corn flour. I didn’t measure the amount I added in, but I’d estimate it to be about another 1/4 cup of garfava and a 1/4 cup of corn flour (used when “kneading” the dough). I also used warm water, skipped the refrigeration, and rolled and topped it without a wait time. I did allow the dough to rise on a warm counter for about 60 minutes prior to rolling it out.

Pizza dough

Pizza dough

I rolled out my dough directly on a flour-dusted counter top, and then used the rolling pin to move the dough to a piece of parchment on a cookie sheet. Oops, it cracked a little bit. No big deal, though. It’s going to be covered in sauce anyway, right?

I topped the crust with my home made tomato sauce recipe.

8 cloves garlic
2 T. olive oil
1/3 cup red wine
1 large can whole tomatoes
2 t. dried basil
2 t. dried oregano
1 1/2 T. pesto

Crush garlic and lightly saute with olive oil. Add wine and briefly simmer. Transfer to a blender and puree with tomatoes. Return mixture to saucepan. Add herbs and pesto and simmer until reduced by half.

Then, I sprinkled on some chopped basil, some steamed broccoli, and some chopped tomatoes, and dolloped on the cashew cream. The whole lot went into a 500° oven for about 10 minutes. Voila!

The Finished Pizza

The Finished Pizza

The kiddo pronounced it delicious, as did the husband. Yay!

Posted in Italian, vegan | Leave a comment

Creamy Vegan Pasta and Veggies

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Deanna

Spring in Wisconsin is all about contrasts. We have warm days and cold nights. You can walk down the bike path and see runners in shorts, and ice fishermen on the bay. In spring I’m also drawn to foods that bridge the seasons – light soups with hearty bread, hearty curries with bright citrus notes, and this dish – pasta and veggies in a creamy sauce. Wait? Isn’t this a vegan recipe? Yep, it sure is. My good friend coconut milk comes to the rescue again. With a bit of lemon and touch of basil and plenty of garlic, this dish could pass the test for even the most die hard dairy lover.

Creamy Pasta and Veggies

Creamy Pasta and Veggies

Creamy Vegan Pasta & Veggies

1 T. olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 red pepper
1 zucchini
1 small bunch broccoli
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
3/4 can coconut milk
1 T. lemon juice
1 packed t. chopped fresh basil
gluten-free pasta to serve 4

Set a pot of water on to boil while you prep all your veggies. Dice the onions. Mince the garlic. Slice the zukes in quarters lengthwise, and then slice (in other words, sort of dice them), cut the broccoli into bite-size bits.

Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil. When the olive oil is warmed, add the onions. By now your water should be boiling, so put the pasta in the boiling water. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté about 30 more seconds. Add the zucchini. Cook until zucchini just begins to soften (about 3 minutes). Add the salt and pepper and the broccoli. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Turn the heat to low and add the coconut milk and lemon juice. Stirring occasionally, cook until the coconut milk begins to thicken. Remember that pasta? It’s probably done by now. Drain it. Don’t rinse it, and add it to the frying pan. Add in the chopped basil. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Plate and serve.

Posted in Italian, pasta, vegan | 2 Comments

The Great Gluten Challenge

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Deanna

January 1st I decided to do a 21 day cleanse. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s the Quantum Wellness cleanse, made popular by Oprah. I didn’t hear about it from her. I heard about it through a friend who had a sister that did it. I’d had one or two or, okay, about a hundred, too many cookies during the holidays, and I thought a cleanse sounded dandy. I’d also been having some increasingly annoying digestive issues and I figured if this helped those, all the better.

So, I ended December with a flurry of eating “one last bite” of this or that, and started the year with excited and motivated to eat clean – no gluten, no animal products, no refined sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol. I was already mostly vegetarian, and I’ve been lactose intolerant for years. So, it wasn’t that radical of a change. Mostly, we were talking about giving gluten the big heave-ho.

Never having done that before, I started poking around the internet for recipes and advice, and I stumbled on a great forum for celiacs. I introduced myself and asked a couple of questions and I was kind of taken aback when everyone suggested I cease and desist with the cleanse and get myself to the doctor for celiac testing. P’shaw, I thought. I’m not thinking I have a problem with gluten. I’m just doing this little cleanse thing.

Well a couple of weeks passed and I started feeling good. No, really good. Better than I’d felt in, well, maybe ever. And, I’m no slouch, here either folks. I’ve been competing in triathlons for 5 years now. I’m active, I’m reasonably healthy. I thought I felt pretty good before. We reached the end of the 21 days, but I didn’t want to quit. So, I kept going.

In February, I turned 39. The day after my birthday, when it had been just about 2 months since I’d started the cleanse, I figured maybe it was about time to see if I could add stuff back in. What’d I start with? Freshly baked home-made bread slathered with roasted garlic mashed up with olive oil and salt. Oh yah, baby. That was delicious. For about 5 minutes. That’s about how long it took before my nose started to drip snot and my sinuses closed up and my head started to ache. The stomach burning came a little later. Houston, we have a problem.

The next morning, I contacted my doctor, who politely informed me that if I wanted to get tested for celiac, I should spend the next 2 weeks making myself sick. Apparently, you can’t test for antibodies unless your system is all in an uproar.

Now I’m 6 days into 14 days of eating gluten. My husband looked at me the other day and said, “you look like hell.” Why thanks, hon. I feel like hell, too.

The lesson? I should have listened to those nice folks in the celiac forum. If you have even the faintest notion that you might have an issue with our not so good friend, gluten, get tested first, ‘kay? Thanks.

Posted in Rants and Rambles | 6 Comments