Now of course they are glutenous but I tell her constantly about my battle with recipe making, finding supplies and my sucess. So it is no mystery that we are grain free compared to them. However dinner is actually one of the easiest meals to host with friends that eat wheat without having them notice the difference.
I planned out our menu today and this is what I cam up with.
Honey baked chicken (agave, garlic and lemon sauce)
Steamed peas with parsley
Potato salad with bacon
Tiramisu for dessert
Rochelle will be bringing a side dish as well to add to the menu. It should be delicious I can hardly wait.
So this morning I started working on the potato salad as it alwasy tastes loads better the next day. Today I will be focusing on my dessert but I am going to share my potato salad aswell just because it was to die for yummy.
I usually only make potato salad in the summer because then you can get the good tasty potatos that either you grew or someone gave to you. However with SPUD potatos are always organic and local so I thought I would buy a bag.
We only eat potatos on ocassion. I used 4 large potatos or 1lb. I didnt peel them as the peel was tender and thin and so good for you it's a total waste of time and vitamins. I also can't hesitate the importance of using non hydrogenated mayonaise. Use real mayonaise but with olive oil or organic expeller pressed canola oil.
I use Hellmans Olive Oil Mayonaise. It has no hydrogenated oils or chemicals in it. I have found it available at every grocery store so you should be able to find it without any problems.
For the bacon I use organic thick cut bacon. DID YOU KNOW, I have not found a bacon (until I shopped organic) that didnt have GLUTEN in it? Have you ever thought to read the ingredients on a bacon package? That's actually something I never thought of doing until one of my books mentioned smoked meats such as bacon and ham being hard to find without bad things in them.
You need to avoid things like "Maltodextrin" "Sodiumglutomate" "Smoke flavor" "Maple flavor" "fructose" "Glucose""Cane juice".
None of those are actually natural or good for you. If you made the bacon at home you would NOT use any of those things. YOu probably wouldnt even know where to buy them or what they are used for.
Most bacon is given a sodium nitrate injection or bath, then processed into a package with "smoke and maple flavor". If bacon has been smoked it does not need smoke flavor.
PS smoke flavor and "liquid smoke" (which is compltely natural) are NOT th same thing. Any "flavors" are completely synthetic. They are produced by a chemical called an esther which tells your brain it tastes like smoke. It has nothing to do with smoke whatsoever.
SO, when I noticed SPUD had bacon I bought a pack and divided it right away and froze it. YES it is alot more expensive by double. But it doesnt have crap in it, and it lasts months as I only use about 4 pieces for breakfast between us on a weekend sometime.
I will say, it tastes just as DELICIOUS as the fake bacon but it doesnt shrink whatsoever. It is the exact same size coming out as going in.
Here is how I made the salad:
1lb organic yellow boiled potatos washed and diced
1 T diced fresh dill or parsley
3 stems of leafy celery hearts minced
4 organic thick bacon slices fried crisp
1 T white vinegar
1 T bacon grease
sea salt and pepper to taste
dash of paprika
5 hard boiled eggs sliced
1 C olive oil mayonaise
1 T deli mustard
1 T pickle juice
1 T organic 1% milk
Cool potatos in cold water till room temperature. Add first set of ingredients and toss in a bowl. Let stand for 1-2 hours.
Fold in boiled eggs and dressing. Refrigerate overnight.
So I got a new cook book when I went down on my road trip to the USA. For me a new recipe book is like CHIRSTMAS. I know how many recipe books do you actually need? The thing is, when it comes to Grain Free cooking there is so many different methods and techniques beyond almond flour that I feel it's important to learn them all. Also I will try about half of the recipes in each book and maybe only like about 3 of them ALOT. lol.
I am pretty picky as I want it to taste good and not dissapointing and dry and deliberatley missing something.
Last weekend we ate cake. I decided this weekend I have made enough cake the last few months to still linger in my brain. So I flipped to a page in my recipe book and came across Tiramisu.
I have had it in the past but never actually liked it. I recognized though that I never really liked any of the things that they made for me so I thought hey I am certain I am able to make it better.
Of course there is the struggle with the lady fingers and then sugar in this type of dessert.
I did some searching and came up with a coconut flour "ladyfinger". Traditionally there was a spongecake used in place of the lady fingers.
In a mixer beat on high until very stiff:
5 egg whites
1 t cream of tartar
1 T agave nectar
In a seperate bowl in mixer beat on high untill thick and creamy:
5 egg yolks
1 t vanilla extract
3 T agave nectar
Sift together and set aside:
1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 t baking soda
3 T arrowroot
Fold the egg yolk cream into the stiff egg whites very gently. Slowly sift in the flour mixture delicately bunches at a time folding continuously avoiding any clumping together.
Once blended completely and smooth, preheat oven and prepare pan.
Place parchment paper in a cookie sheet. Use a cookie cutter or a glass goblet (the one you will use for your serving dish so the biscuit will fit inside) and trace with a non toxic pencil 8 circle patterns.
Using a spoon spread the batter evenly among the circles staying inside the lines.
Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes.
Let cool completely.
I placed the batter into the circles in order to make them fit in the goblet. If you are making this in a flat pan then you could make long strips or squares to fit in your pan. You could also leave it as one large piece but it will be more difficult to soak.
Once the lady fingers are cooled completely start to soak them. Make 1/3 C strong coffee or espresso and let cool. Add 3 T Kahlua or amaretto or brandy and stir.
Set ladyfingers in the coffee mixture and flip over every few minutes.
Tiramisu - Gluten Free, Grain Free, Sugar Free
Beat together in a mixing bowl:
1 Cup whipping cream
3 T agave nectar
1 t vanilla
1 t Kahlua
Beat together in a mixing bowl:
1 C Mascarpone cheese
1 t Kahlua
Beat together in a mixing bowl:
1 C Creme Fraiche or just use 2 C Mascarpone total
1 t Kahlua
Fold the Creme Fraiche and the Mascarpone mixture one at a time into the whipped cream very delicately. Taste. If it's not quite sweet enough add some stevia.
Take one soaked ladyfinger. Place it in the bottom of your goblet Scoop 1 inch of custard over the lady finger. Dust with unsweetened cocoa powder. Drop another lady finger, scoop 1 inch of custard over the lady finger and dust with unsweetened cocoa powder. Cut some dark chocolate curls and top.Place in the refrigerator overnight or in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours until set and well chilled.
This of course can be made in a flat 9x13 pan. I didnt have a gorgeous triffle pan to delicatley layer and place on my counter top to admire. I had these lovely goblets from my bridal shower that I thought would be perfect. They turned out well.
I had just enough tiramisu left over to try it and it's quite lovely silky and light. It's between a mousse and a cheesecake. All that is missing I just need a leaf of green mint now to make them pretty. lol.
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