Pumped for Pumpkin

I haven't posted anything for a while, but never fear. I have been working on some holiday essentials, trying to get them just right. And I might have watched a little more football than recommended. While the holiday season may be a great time of year regardless what foods you can and can't eat, it sure helps if you can fill your kitchen with the mouthwatering aroma of pumpkin and cinnamon. Pumpkin bars are one of my favorite things to make and partake. I think I've been making them since I was about eight-years-old, so I knew I had to find a way to make them without gluten. I took the old family recipe and started fiddling around with the flours. I think I've gotten it to the point now that not even the most discerning critic in my family will be able to tell the difference in taste or texture. In fact, I'm taking them to a family party and expect to fool everyone. I think they'll be surprised when my wife helps herself to a giant piece of pumpkin tradition.

Pumpkin Bars

Combine in a separate bowl and mix thoroughly:

1 c. rice flour

1/2 c. tapioca flour

1/4 c. soy flour

1/4 c. potato starch

2 tbls sorghum flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Mix separately:

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

16 oz. pumpkin (doesn't have to be exact--just ballpark it)

Combine eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin and mix thoroughly. Slowly add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture. Mix on medium-high setting for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour batter into a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

You can frost them with any frosting you'd like once cooled, but this is the one I use.

Frosting

2 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp vanilla

Mix and boil:

2 tbl water

1/4 c sugar

Combine sugar and water in a small pan and bring to boil (simple syrup). Combine powdered sugar, salt, egg, shortening, vanilla. Add simple syrup. Beat heartily for a few minutes until the mixture has the creamy consistency of frosting.

A Shepherd's Feast

It's not really a pie and I have no idea how shepherds play in, but I do know that if done correctly Shepherd's Pie can be a very tasty meal. There are several different recipes in my ward cookbooks, many of which resemble the elementary school cafeteria goodness of yesteryear. Unfortunately, they all call for tomato soup, which can often contain gluten. Now, if you can find a gluten-free can of soup, you must either have better luck or more patience than I. After looking through several varieties of soup, it has become pretty clear to me that soup-makers must rely on flour as their thickener more often than not. It's cheap and effective. I can't imagine why they'd use it. So for me, it has just been easier to throw out the potential soupy offender and revamp the recipe for my own tastes and my wife's sensitivities. Hope you like it. Warning: I never claimed it was healthy, just tasty.

Shepherd's Pie

Filling:

1 lb hamburger

1 onion (diced)

1 clove garlic (diced)

2 tbs butter

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 can diced tomatoes (partially-drained; if you like yours with more tomato kick leave more juice)

1 can green beens (drained)

Melt butter in fry pan. Saute onions and garlic then add hamburger and brown. Add salt, pepper, tomatoes and green beans. Let simmer then remove from heat.

Potatoes:

8-10 potatoes (peeled and cubed)

2 cloves garlic (diced)

6 tbs butter

1/3 cup sour cream

salt to taste

Boil potatoes and garlic until potatoes are just past fork tender (when the corners of the cubes start to round they are perfect) Drain potatoes. Add butter and sour cream. Beat the potatoes furiously until they submit to your will. These are just some mashed potatoes folks. I'm sure you can make them happen. If they are a little thick add some milk.

The Pie:

Pour the filling into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread potatoes on top and bake for 25 minutes at 350. You should start to see the potatoes brown a just a little. Remove from the oven, sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheese across the top and return to the oven for about 5 minutes. When the cheese has melted remove from the oven.

You will be tempted to eat this pie directly from the oven, but make sure to let it cool just a bit before serving or you will likely learn a hard lesson like my two-year old did. Good luck.

Oh, the Germanity!

Mmmmmm. Nothing like German pancakes fresh from the oven. Pour on some maple syrup, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and you have yourself one great way to get rid of all the eggs that have been taking too much space, or time, in your fridge. This is one of the very first recipes from my ward cookbooks that I had to make work. I love them. My kids love them. And most importantly, my wife loves them. I tried just substituting the flour with some other flours using a couple of the vast "conversion" charts that are out on the web, but nothing seemed quite right. Too heavy. Too thick. Too grainy. There's just no perfect supplement for flour in any perfect measurement. You just have to play around. So here's what I came up with after a couple of failed attempts. Hope it brightens up a wintery Saturday morning.

German Pancakes

6 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 tsp xanthum gum
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

4 tbs butter

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Beat eggs and milk. Slowly add dry ingredient mix to milk and eggs and mix on high. Let batter sit for 5 min. Melt butter and pour in bottom of baking pan. Pour batter into the pan and bake at 400 for 20 min. Dust with powdered sugar and maple syrup.

A Banana Cake to Start

At the risk of sounding unsympathetic, I'll admit that when I found out my wife was going to have to live a gluten-free diet I took it pretty hard. I moped around the house for days fearing that my culinary creativity had just been sent packing. I had heard of celiac, I had seen the gluten-free section at the supermarket and its prices, and I had tasted some really awful gluten-free products. My wife was more optimistic than I was, thankfully, and with persistent coaxing she convinced me that life was not all that bad and that with my outrageously good cooking skills and my enormous ego I should be able to come up with something palatable (I'm paraphrasing, of course). That led me to the idea that I should start with my ward cookbook and try to make the best out of those recipes that I had been using all my life. After a few successes and much bragging, my wife convinced me that I should start a blog and post my best recipes. So of course, my first post is nothing of the sort. I'll get to the ward cookbook recipes, but I'll start with a cake of my own. Hope you enjoy it, but if not--well there's a reason I disabled the comments feature.

Buttermilk Banana Cake

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl:
1 c. rice flour
1/2 c. tapioca flour
1/c c. potato starch
1 c. sorghum flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 c. sugar

In a mixer, combine wet ingredients and mix on high setting until you get a good creamy consistency:
2 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 bananas

Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet mixture (about a cup at a time) and mix on high for about 2 minutes (I like to give the rice flour a chance to mix well and soak up as much flavor as possible). Pour batter into a greased and floured (rice flour works well) cake pan and bake at 375 for 30-33 minutes.

I think this cake works well with a cream cheese frosting, but it's also good with a simple white frosting.