Vanilla Ice Cream

I had the great pleasure of coming across a Donvier Premier Ice Cream Maker at the thrift store.  Happy to announce that this little hand crank ice cream maker is going to save me thousands.  No, it's going to save me millions of dollars in store bought ice cream.  

This ice cream recipe is no cook, and no eggs.  I just poured the ingredients into a big quart sized mason jar, shook it up, and into the ice cream maker.  In 20 minutes I had fresh, real vanilla bean ice cream.  If you find a Donvier, by all means do yourself a favor and buy it!

Vanilla Ice Cream (no cook!)

Ingredients:

3 cups half & half

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

(Scrape a vanilla bean if you want specks!)

Pinch of salt (don't omit this!)

Mix all ingredients, and pour into your prepared ice cream maker.  Turn it on or crank away, until you have ice cream.  

It's not ready yet though!  

Transfer the fresh ice cream to a container, cover and freeze for 4 hours or overnight (For best results, I recommend an overnight freeze!) 

Scoop and enjoy!

Now go, and make your own ice cream!

Ketchup (v)

I use ketchup mostly to make other things, like barbecue sauce.  Most store bought ketchup makes me itch, so I just make my own.  It's a lot better, I think.  It's inexpensive and fresh tasting. 

Ketchup

Ingredients:

1 small can tomato paste*

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon dry mustard

2 Tablespoons molasses

1/8 cup water

1/8 cup white vinegar

Salt to taste 

Mix well = ketchup.

* to get all of your tomato paste out of the tin easily, open both ends of the can. Remove the bottom lid and carefully use the top lid to push the paste through the tin down out through the bottom into a bowl.  Discard other metal lid and voila!  All of your tomato paste in your mixing bowl. I learned this trick when I worked at The Grain Dance Bakery and I was in charge of making the pizza sauce.  Opening 20 tins of paste was a cinch using this technique!  

Gluten Free Egg Noodles

I have become mildly obsessed with homemade noodles lately.  I started off by making fettuccini noodles, and it sparked my interest to make good old fashioned egg noodles. These are awesome, and they will be amazing rolled out into dumplings and traditional wide flat egg noodles. I use an Atlas pasta machine.  For egg noodles, I use the thickest setting to roll out the dough.  I like a good thick noodle that I have to chew on.  I then use the fettuccini setting, but this weekend I'm going to make hand cut noodles and dumplings.

Gluten Free Egg Noodles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/2 cup potato starch *plus more for kneading and rolling

4 teaspoons xanthan gum

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon peanut oil

Mix together the dry ingredients.  In a seperate bowl whisk together the eggs and oil and as to the drys.  Mix well, dough will be really sticky.  Use potato starch to cota your hands, then grab the dough ball and knead with potato starch until smooth and cohesive.  Cut into four sections to roll out. 

Roll each section out as thin as you like your noodles/dumplings.  Cut and set aside whole you make the rest of the noodles.  

Cook in salted boiling water immediately, or let air dry slightly and store in an airtight container in the fridge, or, freeze for later use. 

This is a versatile noodle, and will lend itself well to any dish you may create with it.  Experiment with different oils- I used peanut because I wanted to make am asian dish with the noodles.  It worked so well I just keep using it no matter what I make.  

Enjoy, and happy noodling!

Hot Buttered Rum

Kraken Spiced Rum is gluten free, and I couldn't be happier because this hot buttered rum just won't do without a good spiced rum.  I love Kraken because it's delicious, with tones of vanilla and nutmeg, it's perfect for this hot toddy!  Get yourself a special glass for this winter warmer!

Ingredients:

2 shots of good spiced rum

1 tbs. Pat of unsalted butter at room temp

Nutmeg, cinnamon and clove-a small pinch of each

1 teaspoon brown sugar (I used a tablespoon!)

1 teaspoon good vanilla

Hot water

Put the butter sugar vanilla and spices in the bottom of a glass (be sure your glass can handle hot liquids safely!) put a little hot water over the butter and sugar and stir to dissolve.  Add the rum, stir, and top with hot water to fill your glass.  Throw a cinnamon stick in for good measure and enjoy!

Pork Roast with carrots and potatoes

I made the mistake of buying pork sirloin instead of a beef cut for making a hearty and fulfilling pot roast dinner in the crock pot.  I was determined though, and I made it work.  It was reminiscent of the pot roast that filled the house with wintry delights. It worked.  Just like pot roast, only, it's a pork roast!

Ingredients:

For my recipe, I used two 4# roasts.  Put them in the crock pot on top of a bed of chopped onions and peeled and chopped potatoes and carrots. 

Make a broth and pour over everything:

1cup hot water

3Tbs vinegar

2Tbs sugar

2Tbs tamari

1Tbs ketchup

1-2Tbs hot sauce 

Salt and fresh black pepper to taste

Garlic powder to taste

Cook on low for about 8 hours or more to be sure all the veggies are tender.  Keep checking for doneness.  I think ours cooked for a good slow 15 hours.  It was well worth the wait, and we cooked it again the next day for another five hours at least. The meat was do tender and the broth was divine.  Keep adding water if you are going to cook it for over 8 hours. I added about 2 cups of water as it cooked down.  I didn't want it to dry out, and it seemed like a perfect solution.  

Enjoy!

GF Pie Crust

Use this recipe for sweet or savory pies.  This was my first try at a gluten free crust, and super pleased with the results.  Buttery and flaky but still a substantial crust.  These little muffin tin pie crusts ended up as French silk pies 

I can't wait to make fruit pies, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and chicken pot pies!  

For now, Pie Crust:

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup rice flour (you can use a blend of different rice flours, I used just brown rice flour.)

1/2 cup tapioca starch

2 Tablespoons sugar (for sweet pies;omit for savory pies)

Pinch salt

1 cup butter cut into pieces

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup cold water

Cut the butter into the flour mixture, using a pastry blender, fork, or food processor. Cut all the butter in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add water slowly until dough forms a cohesive ball.  Divide dough in half and cover.  Chill for at least one hour, and keep dough in the fridge when not roung it out.  

Roll out one section at a time and transfer to pie plate.  Prick holes into the bottom surface of the dough. You can pre bake the crust at 350 for 8-10+ minutes, depending on size.  Watch it so it won't burn! Or fill with your favorite filling and follow your pie directions.  Watch the edges and cover with foil if browning too quickly.  

Happy pie making!

GF Pierogi

I woke up wanting pierogies, so I made some.  They turned out perfectly, just like a traditional pierogi.  

Ingredients 

Dough:

1/2 cup sour cream

2/3 cup milk

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 1/2 cups any gluten free flour blend.  For this recipe I used Bob's Red Mill biscuit and baking mix

Blend well and let rest for five minutes.  Roll into rounds, fill, and pinch edges to seal.  Drop into boiling water for a few minutes, until done.  Remove from boiling water and top with freshly ground black pepper.  Let sit for a few minutes before serving, or pan fry or broil before serving. These are excellent the next day heated up in the toaster oven, topped with cheese!

Filling:

Boil 1# potatoes, peeled and chopped.  Drain and mash with one onion, sautéed in butter, add 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup milk.  Add salt and pepper to taste, mash until smooth and creamy.