A New Bread for Fall

I combined a couple of recipe to create this lovely pumpkin cranberry bread for a potluck my husband was having today at work. The theme was "healthy eating" and one of the categories was gluten free. So, I decided to make this bread since I had some pureed fresh pumpkin and fresh cranberries from the farmer's market on hand.

And....I won a $20 cash prize for this bread in the gluten free category! It was fun and exciting to win!

This wonderfully moist gluten free, dairy free, soy free bread is so delicious it is more like cake! You could never tell it is gluten free or made in any other way than the traditional way of baking.

I know that this will become one of the favorite fall treats in our household.

I learned a lot about gluten free baking when we had Farmer's Tea- selling our baked goods at a farmer's market. There were many customers who came to appreciate our growing selection of gluten free treats. So, I love to combine recipes and create many new gluten free baked goods to try. Also, since we have a couple of friends who need to eat gluten and dairy free- having these types of things on hand is always great!

Enjoy this lovely bread!

First of all- before baking you need to create a special flour mix. If you live locally (in Oregon) I have found all three of the flours available at New Seasons- or if you go to Bob's Red Mill in Milwaukie, Oregon you can buy these flours in bulk which saves a lot of money.

The flour mixture is as follows (I usually mix up a large batch and store it in a zip lock bag or a storage container) I got this mixture idea from "Gluten Free Baking Classics" by Annalise G. Roberts. It is a wonderful book and a great one for coming up with baking ideas.

Small Batch of Gluten Free Flour:

2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Large Batch of Gluten Free Flour:

6 cups brown rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour

The only other ingredient that is essential to gluten free baking is xanthan gum which helps hold the flours together and helps prevent baked goods from being too crumbly. It can be found in most stores. It is expensive but only a bit is used in each recipe and it lasts a long time. Below you can see a photo of all of the ingredients laid out:


Gluten Free Pumpkin Cranberry Bread:

Makes three 8x4 loaves- they freeze wonderfully!

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups brown rice flour mix (if you don't need to make this gluten free substitute all-purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
  
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 3 cups granulated sugar
  
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (or use fresh pumpkin that you have baked and pureed yourself- be sure to use a pie pumpkin or other sweet pumpkin for this
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries-chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8x4-inch loaf pans.
2. Combine flour, spices, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Set aside.
   
3. Stir together sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and orange juice in bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.
4. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy a lovely slice of fall!!

Layers of Comfort Food

A couple days ago while it was rainy and cold outside I wanted to create something warming for dinner to take the chill off. This delicious and easy casserole fit the bill!

I took the original recipe and changed it to make it more flavorful and through this I have learned even more- and have changed a couple more things to end up with the recipe below. This is a great recipe because it is quick, healthy, easy and makes great leftovers. You could even make two and keep one in the freezer for later.

This casserole is also great because you can add ground beef, chicken or substitute black or pinto beans for the meat to make it a vegetarian meal. It is very versatile and delicious! Enjoy!

Tex Mex Tortilla Lasagna:

Makes 6-8 servings

2 cups tomato sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 jalapeno pepper- chopped-(seeds removed)

12 corn tortillas
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 pound ground beef (or 1/2 pound chopped chicken, or 1 can black or pinto beans- drained and rinsed for filling)
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon taco seasoning or Mexican spice mix
1 teaspoon salt

1 can stewed tomatoes
1 bell pepper, sliced into rings
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350F

1. Spray a 13x9 casserole pan with non-stick spray- or oil it with olive oil.
2. Combine tomato sauce with spices, salt and jalapeno pepper. Set aside.
3. Heat a pan with olive oil in it. Saute the onions and the beef or chicken in it until thoroughly cooked. Add the taco seasoning and salt towards the end of cooking and mix together. If using beans for a vegetarian dish- add the beans to the pan with the onions and mix them together with the spice and salt.
4. Arrange 6 tortillas in the bottom of the pan, add a little tomato sauce mixture on the top and spread it around.
5. Mix the ricotta cheese, chili powder and garlic powder together. Add this mixture in a layer.
5. Add another layer of 6 tortillas and top with the chicken, beef or beans (your choice). Add remaining sauce and stewed tomatoes. Top with bell pepper rings, cover with a lid or foil and bake for 1 hour.
6. After 1 hour uncover the casserole and sprinkle with cheese. Bake another 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven and wait 10 minutes before serving


Enjoy this lovely meal! This photo shows a serving of the lasagna along with one of the pretty napkins my mom sewed for me a couple of years ago to go along with some place mats she made.

Soup's On!

Since the fall chill is now in the air it's officially soup season around here! Soup is such a warm, comforting food and this soup is one of my all time favorites- it has two of my favorite things..cooked tomatoes and peanut butter in it!

Yesterday I decided to make this soup and serve it over brown rice as I often do. I did serve some corn on the cob on the side- but really with the rice it's quite a complete meal all by itself!

I got this recipe from a family friend who loves to make soup too! I have changed the recipe a slight bit by adding more peanut butter and a bit more broth and chicken- but it is basically the same as the original.

Here it is and enjoy...

West African Chicken Peanut Soup-serves 6-8

2-3 cups cooked chicken- diced (I usually bake 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the oven and then use those)
1 medium onion- diced
2 garlic cloves-minced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
4 cups chicken broth
1 small can tomato paste
1 15 ounce can stewed tomatoes
1/3 + cups of peanut butter

--6-8 servings of brown rice to serve soup over

1. In a large pot (I use a cast iron pot) heat the olive oil and saute the onions, garlic and chicken for about 10 minutes until the onion is tender. Add the curry powder, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and saute 1 minute more.

2. Add the chicken broth, tomato paste, stewed tomatoes and peanut butter, (add more peanut butter and taste the soup to make sure the seasonings are to your liking) stirring until well combined. Heat the soup until very hot but not boiling. Serve immediately or cool in the refrigerator and serve later.

Enjoy this fabulous soup!

I "Hallah" for Challah!

This week since I hadn't made bread in a while I decided to make something different. Also, I had a lot of eggs to use and I wanted to use them in a delicious way! I had made this recipe before- given to me by my cousin Helen who clipped it out of the Oregonian newspaper a while back and sent me a copy. However, I think that my "new and improved" version is even better!

This is one of the softest, best tasting, fluffiest breads I have ever made! And, it is so easy to make!

The original version is not whole wheat and it also contains less yeast than my version. I have found that adding more yeast helps a bread rise more, be softer and fluffier- so I decided to double the amount of yeast in the recipe and got fabulous results!

Try it for yourself and you will see!

This is great hot out of the oven with butter on it, or toasted the next day- or for sweet sandwiches such as peanut butter and jelly. Enjoy! Below you can see a picture of the loaves ready to be put into the oven! Yum!


Whole Wheat Challah Bread:

Makes 2 large loaves

1 1/2 cups very hot tap water
8-9 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons sea salt
4 eggs plus 1 additional egg yolk (divided)
4 cups unbleached white bread flour (I used King Arthur)
2 cups whole wheat flour (Again I used King Arthur)
1 tablespoon water

Sesame or poppy seeds

1. In a large bowl combine warm water, yeast and brown sugar. When the mixture is foamy and bubbly, add canola oil, honey, salt, 3 eggs and the additional egg yolk.

2. Stir in 3 cups of the bread flour and 2 cups of the whole wheat flour 1 cup at a time. I stirred this mixture by hand with a wooden spoon. Stir until the dough begins to stretch as it is stirred. You can also use an electric mixer if you like. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand. Work in an additional cup of the bread flour. Be sure to only add as much as needed to make a smooth dough.

3. Oil a clean bowl or spray it with nonstick spray. Roll the dough around the bowl to coat the surface. Cover the dough with a clean, damp cloth and let it rise for about 2 hours. Punch down the dough.

4. Shape the dough into 2 loaves. I left my 2 loaves very large. I didn't stretch them out into long, skinny loaves. I divided each loaf into 3 "strands" and braided them loosely. Cover the loaves and let them rise for another 45 minutes to an hour.

5. Make an egg wash by beating the remaining egg with the 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the egg wash over the loaves.

6. Heat the oven to 375F. I have a convection oven so mine was set to 350F. Bake the loaves for 15 minutes on the middle rack. Then, brush with more egg wash and sprinkle the loaves with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Be sure to check the loaves often so that they don't over bake. The loaves should be golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Enjoy your bread!!

Harvest Time

This week we harvested some dry beans, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, basil and cucumbers. We are trying to harvest every last bit we can to get the most use out of what we planted.


Some of the potatoes are one inch in diameter and the tomatoes have spots but we don't care, we'll take what we can get at this point! We recently heard a master gardener say that this was the worst gardening year he had ever had in Oregon- we would have to agree.


The cucumbers will be made into pickles, we will freeze the green beans and shell the dry ones. We are going to wash the potatoes and spread them out and cover them to harden off.

I (Trista) have been drying tomatoes in my food dehydrator and saving them to put in jars with some of our fresh basil and olive oil. Then, they will be stored in the refrigerator. I made some last year and the oil that they are packed in is also good to use for other Italian dishes. They are delicious tossed into some fresh, hot pasta.



Serena is going to make some barbecue sauce with the tomatoes we harvested this week.

The Federle tomatoes were very prolific and in a better year we would have had a huge harvest of these. We are hoping that since there are many green ones on there that we will be able to get a lot more. The Italian Heirlooms are nice, big tomatoes and have a wonderful flavor but they are not as prolific as the Federles.


The sunflowers are getting a bit bigger and it'll be interesting to see if the seeds mature. The bees were out in full force today landing on many of the flowers. We are leaving the squash to continue growing in the hopes that they will get bigger. This week we had humid weather in the 70's so they are still growing.

An Addictive Pie

Last weekend we celebrated my brother Stuart's birthday. He is a non-traditionalist and doesn't really like cake and loves things with custard in them so I decided to try this pie recipe out that I found in my Bon Apetit magazine a month or two ago. I had heard of this pie from my husband Paul who saw it online as part of a Martha Stewart Show segment. This pie is a customer favorite at Momofuko Milk Bar in NYC. Apparently it is so addicting that it is called "crack pie." I can agree with this assessment however it is very, very rich so I can see having it maybe 1-2 times a year for a special occasion.

It is much like a pecan pie without the nuts and with a cookie crust.

I really, really enjoyed this pie along with my family and can imagine it with other cookie crust flavors including coconut and chocolate crusts. The only thing that turned out differently with my pie is that I didn't have time to let it set up overnight in the fridge so it was a bit runny- but that made it all the more rich and yummy! Enjoy!

Ooey Gooey Rich Pie- or Crack Pie: 10-12 small servings

Oat Cookie Crust:

nonstick vegetable oil spray
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
5 1/2 tablespoons golden brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons old fashioned oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pie Filling:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

powdered sugar for dusting

Oat Cookie Crust:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with parchment paper and then spray with nonstick spray. (I didn't have the metal pan that the recipe called for so I used a glass one). Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time- about 2 minutes. Then, add the egg and beat until pale and fluffy. Ad the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and beat until the mixture is well blended- about 1 minute. Turn oat mixture into the prepared pan. I found that the mixture is very sticky- so spread it out into the pan so it is as flat as possible, but you may not be able to get it to the edges. Bake until it is golden brown on top- about 17 to 18 minutes. Cool the mixture completely on a wire rack. I ended up putting the pan in the freezer for a few minutes to cool it down because I was running short on time and need to finish up the recipe.

Crumble the oat cookie mixture into a large bowl; add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub the mixture together with your fingers until it sticks together. Transfer this mixture into a 9 inch pie dish. Press mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet.

Filling:

Put the oven rack into the center of the oven and preheat it to 350F. Whisk together both sugars, milk powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and blend together. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla- mix until well blended. Pour the filling mixture into the pie crust. Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F and bake for another 20 minutes. Watch the pie during this stage because my crust over browned just slightly. It may have only needed to bake 15 minutes. The filling will be set around the edges but move just slightly in the center.

Cool the pie for 2 hours on a wire rack and overnight in the fridge. I didn't have time to cool the pie for so long- so it only cooled in the fridge for around 2 hours so the filling was still runny- but it was really delicious that way too!

Enjoy a slice of this amazing pie! Below is a picture of a slice of it with the runny, caramel filling. It was amazing!