Gluten Free Fresh Berry Clafoutis

I'm quite embarrassed by the lack of posting, but as it is, life happens. Sometimes we don't make enough time for the things that matter most, like food. What I've come to begrudgingly learn, however, is there there are more important things than shamefully decadent food. Healthy food and the health of those we love have become far more important. So I set down my bleached wheat flour and picked up my coconut and almond flour and began playing--all for the love of my better half who is intolerant to such floury delights.  Wanting to stay true to the things I love most, I decided to reconstruct one of my favorite dishes, Blackberry Clafoutis, so that my love can enjoy it. Enter, Gluten Free Fresh Berry Clafoutis.

I'm new to using gluten free flours and I'm certain with time my experiments will become all the more palatable, but for a first stab at this reconstruction, I'm quite proud. I added less overall flour because of the absorbancy powers of the coconut flour but wanted to kick in some almond flour because I have thus far (admittedly) been underwhelmed by the outcomes of 100% coconut. I'll continue to play around with it and update as necessary.

What you'll need:

• 1/4 cup of coconut flour
• 1/8 cup of almond flour
• 1/4 cup of sugar (1/3 to make it more like a desert)
• 3 eggs (at room temp)
• 1/3 cup of milk
• Zest of one lemon
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• A handful of fresh berries (I prefer blackberries and raspberries)
• A pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a pie pan. Combine the flours, sugar, and salt. Whisk in the lemon zest, butter, eggs, and milk until well blended. Pour into your pie pan and topple with the berries. It's a matter of preference how much pastry-to-berry you want. Bake for 30 min or until the sides brown and the top begins to follow suit. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm of cold, but always best with a nice cup of tea. 

Blueberry Crumble

A colleague of mine wafted a delightful blueberry cobbler through our office a few days ago and, so taken was I with the enchanting smell, I had to make my own. After scouring 5 different grocery stores I finally found a sufficient amount of blueberries and eagerly hurried home to create this tasty little marvel. 

What you'll need:

3 pints of blueberries (fresh)

1/2 C granulated sugar

1 C brown sugar (packed)

1 C flour

3/4 C oats

10 Tbls butter (cut into small pieces for easy mixing)

Juice of 2 lemons

A wee bit of: salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease an 8 1/2 x 11 baking pan. In a large bowl mix blueberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and about 3 tbls of the flour until all berries are evenly coated. Pour into baking pan. Then blend together (with mixer or hands--I'm a hands type of gal) the brown sugar, oats, butter, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and the rest of the flour. This mixture should become crumbly. At that point evenly sprinkle it over the blueberry filling. Bake for 25-30 minutes (until blueberries start to boil over slightly). Wait to cool (boiling blueberries=ouch) and enjoy! 

Prosciutto Caprese Pockets

My dear friend, Heather and I absolutely love to make baked tomatoes and serve them with French bread and brie. Wanting to use our tomato recipe (which she deserves full credit for) in a slightly healthier, more diet-friendly way (considering I can no longer eat bread nor cheese) I decided to play around with making little caprese pockets. What became of my messing around in the kitchen was extraordinary...and quite amusing little bouches if you ask me.

What you'll need:

A bunch of Thyme

1 cup cherry or plum tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped finely

8-10 large fresh basil leaves

8-10 slices of prosciutto

3/4 cup olive oil (I used a mix of regular and garlic-infused)

A pinch of salt 

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take a casserole pan or small oven friendly dish and combine tomatoes, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, and a pinch of salt (you'll get plenty of salt from the prosciutto so don't overdo it). Place in center of oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until the tomatoes soften and begin to release their juices but don't explode (see picture). While the tomatoes are cooking, lay out the prosciutto and put a basil leaf in the center of each piece. Depending on the cut of prosciutto I recommend a 4"x4" piece if possible (feel free to double the prosciutto to make it stronger, to avoid seeping). Spoon 2-3 tomatoes (with sauce!) into each basil leaf. Fold the prosciutto into pockets and tie together with a sprig of Thyme. Serve immediately.

*Note: I never use measuring devices when playing in the kitchen so my serving suggestions are mere estimates and I highly encourage you to find what ratio suits you best. For example, I really love garlic so I overwhelm my dishes with it. You may not. Feel free to experiment!

Wild Rice and Coconut Berry Pudding (revised)

A couple years ago I made  a rice pudding with sweet wild rice, coconut, and almond shavings. It was a beautiful Autumn dessert. Because of my new dietary restrictions, I have been looking more at making rice dishes. But with summer upon us I wanted to revise the dish to be more seasonally appropriate. And here goes...

What you'll need:

1 Cup wild sweet rice

3 Cups water

1/2 Cup sugar (I use Lavendar Sugar but that could be hard to find)

Coconut milk (you'll see I used light coconut milk. I HIGHLY recommend using regular coconut milk instead)

A handful of assorted berries (I used blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries)

What to do:

Soak the rice in water for at least 8 hours prior beginning. This will soften the rice and remove the massive film that forms on this kind of rice. Once rice has soaked add it to the 3 cups of water and place on Med-Low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Allow the mixture to transform into a bubbling semi-liquid, then add the sugar and mix well. Cover the mixture and continue to cook on low for another 10 minutes. When the mix is of porridge consistency remove from heat and place in serving dishes. Add coconut mil to your liking and top with the assortment of berries. Enjoy warm.

Coconut Chicken

Happy Summer Everyone!

Sorry for a long lapse in posting. With all the beautiful summer treats at my disposal I'm sure to be much for active. This is one of my favorite (and extremely easy) recipes. It's a lunchtime staple because it's so easy to make, pack up, and reheat at work without losing any quality. 

It goes as such:

What you'll need:

2-3 Chicken breast tenders

2 Stalks of kale

Dried coconut shreds

2 Tbsp coconut oil

Onion (chopped--I use two rings, but I really like onion...you can use as much as you'd like)

Tuscan salt blend (salt, dried tomato and lemon peel, peppers, and rosemary) 

A beautiful little nasturtium or two for character if you're in the habit of eating flowers 

What to do:

Heat your skillet to Med heat with the coconut oil. Add the chicken tenders, onion, Tuscan salt blend, and coconut shreds. Heat until the chicken is cooked halfway and the onion/coconut shreds have begun to caramelize. Turn chicken over and add the kale (pulled off the stock). Cover and allow to cook another 2-3 minutes until the kale has cooked but not withered.  Remove from heat, mix the kale and onion/coconut blend together and serve underneath the chicken. Add a bed of nice if you'd like more substance. Enjoy!

Apple Butternut Squash Soup

There is very little in this world that I love more than Autumn and even less that I love more than harvest cooking. That being true, this seemed the perfect early fall experiment on the day of our first California rain. Butternut squash (and in fact all squash) soup has always come across to me as lacking in any exciting flavor profiles, so I wanted to work something in that would both pair well with the squash and make it more unique. So, I decided to make it something of an apple-cider-pumpkin-pie-butternut-squash-soup. 

What you'll need:

• 1 yellow or while onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 green apple
• 2-3 Tbsp butter
• 3 cups broth (chicken or veggie)
• 1 cup water
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, curry powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice for flavor
• The garlic olive oil leftovers from the quiche recipe (if you have been following along closely enough)

Cook it!:

       Peel and cut the apple and squash into small, equal-sized pieces and set aside. Chop the carrot and onion and add to a large sauce pan once the butter has been melted in it. (Add the garlic olive oil mixture at this point if you are using it). Sautee until the onion has become translucent, but not brown. Add the squash, apple, broth, and water and bring to a boil. Once brought to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes until the squash has softened.  Turn off the heat and blend the mixture in a blender until smooth (should be very easy. If not, cook the soup longer). Return to pot and add spices to your liking. Serve and enjoy. 

Asparagus and Roasted Garlic Tomato Quiche

Might I add, crustless to the mix. I recently got my first apron and it has suddenly jolted what would have already been a harvest-crazed cooking season. Apart from being exceptionally functional (complete with singular adorable pocket for my iPod so I don't blow out my roommate's eardrums while dancing around in the kitchen) it also speaks a truth that I hold very dear to my heart, well, just over my heart: "Count your blessings, not your calories." Now while this phrase speaks volumes of my culinary philosophy, in the interest of laziness I have decided to take out one very important, and more fattening, step in the quiche process: the crust. But for all you jiggle-friendly eaters, there will be much more fat-filled recipes coming to you in the very near future, don't you fret.

What you'll need:

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
• Asparagus (about 10 stocks)
• Cherry tomatoes (about 10 as well)
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• A couple cloves of garlic
• Salt and (if you're not me) pepper

How to whip it up:

      Start by preheating the oven to 425 F. Chop the garlic and toss it in an oven safe pan with the olive oil and tomatoes. Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes have started to ooze and your house smells utterly delicious. In the meantime, mix together the eggs, milk, cheese, salt, and pepper in a bowl until well blended. Pour into a greased pie dish. Cut the asparagus into small stocks and place on top of the egg mixture. Once the tomatoes are roasted add them to the dish and throw back into the oven for about 20 minutes until the quiche looks like it's about to explode and begins to brown slightly at the top. Remove from oven and enjoy!

**note: if you feel like making this and the following recipe (Apple Butternut Squash Soup) at the same time, save the leftover olive oil and garlic to mix into the soup broth.