You-Won't-Believe-It's-Gluten-Free Focaccia

Look at those beautiful air pockets.  Just look at them.

It's like real bread.  It tastes like real bread, it got beautiful and brown like real bread, and best of all - it's springy like real bread.  You know how most commercial gluten-free breads have the consistency of chalk, or a rock?  Not this one.  You can try to push this one down, but it will spring right back up, almost defiantly - just like gluten-ful bread.

I added some herbs to this to make it more savory, but leave them out for a more versatile bread.  You can easily slice this in half and make a sandwich out of it, or toast it and drizzle honey over it.  You could even make it into French toast, if you so desired.  Spread cream cheese and jam onto a toasted piece, or just eat it plain.

But whatever you do, make it.  You won't regret it, I promise.  It is so easy to throw together, and half the pan was gone in a matter of 15 minutes in my house.  

This is definitely best served the same day.  It was a little drier the second day, but zapping it in the microwave for about 10 seconds made it just as soft and springy as it had been the day before.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge for best results, or if you're saving it for longer than one day, put it in the freezer and defrost before serving.

Gluten-free Focaccia (Adapted from "1,000 Gluten-free Recipes" by Carol Fenster)

1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup warm water (110 F)
White rice flour for dusting the pan
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, best at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar

For herbed focaccia, add:
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. onion powder

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water.  Put it in a warm place to let rise and foam.

Grease an 8x8 nonstick pan and dust the bottom and sides lightly with white rice flour.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and add the eggs, vinegar, oil, and yeast-water mixture.  Beat the dough by hand or with a mixer on low until it is thoroughly blended.  If using a blender, increase the mixer speed to medium and continue beating for 30 seconds or until dough starts to get a bit thicker.  The dough will be very wet and will look more like muffin batter (you won't be able to knead it).

Transfer the dough to the pan.  Spread it to the edges of the pan with a wet spatula or spoon and make sure that it is evenly spread.  Let the dough rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes, or until it has doubled in height.  If you are making herbed focaccia, spray dough with cooking spray and sprinkle the dough with thyme, italian seasoning, and salt.

Preheat oven to 400 F.  When the dough has risen, place in the preheated oven and bake for 18 - 20 minutes.  It's done when you can push down on it and it springs back.  Remove from oven and cool the focaccia in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack.  Remove it from pan and cool another 10 minutes more on the wire rack.  Slice with a serrated knife.

Store in the fridge for up to one day and reheat when you are ready to serve it.  Otherwise, keep it in the freezer, already sliced, and defrost as needed.  Holds together beautifully for sandwiches or grilled cheese.

Creamy Basil Hummus

I love hummus.  It's one of the things I really missed being able to eat during the last year of living in Swaziland.  Sure, I could find hummus occasionally in the store, but the chances of it being labeled "gluten-free" were slim to none.  And without a food processor, I couldn't even make my own at home.  The same was true of pesto.  I love the taste of pesto, but the availability of pesto, period, was very limited, much less pesto that did not include cheese. 

That's why this recipe is so amazing.  It combines the wonderful, creamy texture of hummus with the fresh, bursting flavor of basil into something that you will not be able to stop eating.  It even packs a nice protein punch from the chickpeas and sesame tahini.  We ate this smeared onto our gluten-free breadsticks at an Italian dinner, and it was the perfect complement to the pasta and salads we were eating.  But I imagine this would be equally delicious spread into a sandwich, or eaten alone with chips.  Try adding different herbs in place of the basil if you have a different favorite!

Thanks to my cousin Erin for sharing her amazing recipe for this blog!

Creamy Basil Hummus

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 green onion (just the green part, not the white part), chopped
1/8 cup plus 1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sesame tahini
1 large garlic clove (or more to taste), put through the press
A handful of fresh basil leaves
juice from half a lemon
A tablespoon of water (only for thinning)
Salt to taste (optional, I put a dash in last time)
 
Toss all of the ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth.


Note: I usually had to add about a tbsp of water so that it will process well.  It lasts a little less than a week in the fridge. Also, I think the "handful of basil" is probably about one of those 3/4 oz. packages of fresh basil you can buy at the store.  I just keep tasting it until I feel like it's the right amount of basil and garlic.

Potato Frittata

This is an excellent way to use leftover roasted potatoes, and to get away from what I usually do, which is just to reheat them and scramble a few eggs to make it a meal. This is much more elegant-looking, and much more delicious.  I will warn you that this might take a long time to cook, so don't make this if you're already hungry!
 
Roasted Potato Frittata

Leftover potatoes of any kind (I used leftover potatoes I had roasted with garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and black pepper)

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup soy milk

1 tomato, cut into thin slices

Mixed herbs (dried thyme, oregano, basil, and sage) Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Arrange the leftover potatoes into the bottom of a small casserole dish. Beat the eggs with the soy milk and mixed herbs, and then pour over the potatoes. Press down on the potatoes with a small spatula to make sure that the eggs have been disbursed evenly throughout. Place the tomato slices on top and sprinkle some mixed herbs, salt, and pepper over the top. Bake the fritatta in the preheated oven for 35 – 55 minutes, until it is set and the crust has slightly browned. Cool slightly before serving.

Butternut Apple Bake

Squash is everywhere here in Swaziland. They eat it like mashed potatoes with melted butter and milk. They cut butternut squash into thick slices and drizzle it with butter and sugar and bake it for so long that it melts in your mouth and tastes like heaven on earth. They boil slices of sweet pumpkin for a snack. So when I found a 2 pound bag of butternut squash at the grocery store the other day for only about $1.50, I thought of the bag of apples I had sitting in my room at home and bought them, along with an onion. Later, I pulled these three ingredients out, chopped them up, drizzled some olive oil and spices over them, and left them to do their thing in the oven. I let them bake for about 55 minutes until they were very soft and the juice from the apples was bubbling on the bottom of the pan. You could serve this as a hot side dish, but what I recommend is to chill them overnight and then eat them cold the next day. I don't know what happened in that fridge, but something magical took place and they tasted amazing when I took my first bite this evening. I didn't even bother to warm them up after tasting them cold; I just spooned them into a bowl and ate, and it was wonderful and satisfying. I think that I will try this with a mixture of butternut squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes to go with the apples; you could really use any kind of squash or potato you have on hand and serve it as a potato/squash salad. Or you could heat it up and eat it with rice. It's versatile, so just make it work for what you have!


Butternut Apple Bake

1.5 lbs chopped butternut squash
3 small apples, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped into slices
2 - 3 tbsp. olive oil or gluten-free buttery spread
Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, and Basil sprinkled to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 - 3 tbsp. brown sugar

Chop the onion and arrange on the bottom of a glass baking dish. Chop the butternut squash into equal-sized pieces and chop the apples, and arrange over the onions. Drizzle the olive oil over the whole thing. Add the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, and oregano to taste and stir to coat all of the pieces. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the mixture. Cover with foil and bake at 375 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, testing for doneness. Add more seasoning or brown sugar according to your own taste. You can either serve immediately when it is hot or chill to serve as a cold side dish.

Squashed Rice

Ok, I know it might sound like kind of weird combination, but this was actually extremely delicious. The squash made this dish wonderfully creamy, and the beef added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the pumpkin and butternut. I would have used ground turkey in this if it had been available, but all I could find in the supermarket here in Swaziland was ground beef, so just use whatever you like the best. What I'm discovering here is that pumpkin is used often for savory dishes, more so than in America (where we like to bake with it but rarely see it in a stew, for instance). I love pumpkin and other types of squash, so I am enjoying that they are part of the mainstream cuisine here. I threw this mixed rice together because I happened have these ingredients on hand when I went into the kitchen last week to cook for myself, and it's a recipe I will definitely make again. If you're vegetarian, this would be delicious without the meat as well. The rosemary, thyme, and sage in the recipe complement the squash beautifully, and the recipe makes enough for two people easily, with some left over. I didn't want to stop eating this, and even the kitchen staff at the guest house gave me two thumbs up when they tried it and said unanimously, "Kumnandzi!" (which means "delicious" in siSwati).

Squash and Beef Mixed Rice
Serves 2 - 3

1 1/2 - 2 cups of cooked Jasmine rice (or your favorite type of rice)
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup chopped pumpkin and/or butternut squash
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 tsp each of rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, and basil (more to taste if desired)
3/4 pound ground beef, ground turkey, or vegan/vegetarian meat substitute
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup soy milk or soy creamer

Cook the rice as directed. Cover and set aside when done. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion. Cook for 3 - 5 minutes until the onion is soft, then add the pumpkin, butternut squash, carrots, and spices and stir well. Cook covered over medium heat for at least 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the ground beef and continue to cook over medium-high heat, stirring often. Continue to cook until the ground meat is completely done, for at least 10 - 15 minutes. The mixture will become slightly creamy as the squash gets closer to being done. When the meat is done, test the squash to see if it is soft. If it needs more cooking time, reduce heat, add a little water, and continue to cook for another 10 - 15 minutes until the squash is very tender. When it is ready, add the soy milk for a more creamy texture, starting with 1/4 cup and adding more if necessary, and adjust seasoning as desired. When you are satisfied with the taste of the squash and beef mixture, add the cooked rice and stir well. Serve immediately.

Herbed Focaccia Bread

This is the first bread I have made that, to me, is indistinguishable from bread made with regular wheat flour. My taste buds have changed since going gluten-free, and sometimes what tastes convincingly like the original to me is, in fact, still rather odd-tasting to others who try it. So I even gave some to my roommate to try, and she confirmed it. Just look at those beautiful air pockets! And it was spongy and soft, and when I made a sandwich out of it, it didn't crumble into tiny pieces with the first bite. I froze most of the loaf in slices, and found that it reheats well, too. The taste of rosemary permeates every bite, but subtly, so that you can still use this bread for sandwiches. The recipe is from Carol Fenster's 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes, and I would highly recommend this cookbook. It has an absolutely fantastic selection of foods you probably miss, and best of all, produces wonderful results that taste like the original and with the right texture, too. So, just a little plug for Ms. Fenster (I suppose she's actually Dr. Fenster, but whatever).

Sage and Parsley Chicken with Garlic Smashed Potatoes and Gravy

Mmmm, sage. While I was visiting some friends in Champaign-Urbana a few weeks ago, we went out to a farm in the area and picked bags of fresh herbs. I picked what seemed like a scant amount of sage, but it turns out, I have more of the stuff than I know what to do with. I used part of it in my Butternut Risotto last week, but that still left me with 90% of what I had originally bought. My boss was telling me this week about baked herbed chicken made with a wine gravy that she's tried before, and that sounded pretty good to me, so I thought I'd give it a whirl with the fresh herbs that I happened to have in my kitchen: sage, of course, and parsley. It turned into a very 'comfort food' kind of meal; a steaming mound of mashed potatoes, a tender chicken breast, and a smooth and delicious gravy to top it all off. I made this for two people, and the amount of potatoes was actually just right (although we had an extra serving of gravy leftover). But obviously, you can adjust this to accommodate a larger dinner crowd very easily. The gravy is made with cornstarch, by the way, but feel free to subsitute another starch (arrowroot, perhaps) if you are avoiding corn. Using only cornstarch, I discovered, will also give your gravy a nice little sheen, so if you'd like it to look less....shiny, I would combine the cornstarch with sweet rice flour or some other starch to tone it down. All of the seasonings are approximate and you should add more or less depending on your own taste. I personally could have done with a little more sage on my chicken, but that's just me. I also think this would have turned out just as wonderfully if the chicken had been cooked entirely in the frying pan and been allowed to brown a little more. So experiment with it, and enjoy!

Sage and Parsley Chicken with Garlic Smashed Potatoes and Gravy

For the chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 - 1 tsp. lemon juice

For the gravy:

8 oz. gluten-free chicken broth (I used Pacific Chicken Broth)
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 - 1/2 cup hot water
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. fresh sage
1 tsp. fresh garlic

For the potatoes:

22-oz. package of Red Creamer Potatoes (625 g), chopped into halves or quarters with the skins still on (or off, if you don't like them)
1/4 - 1/2 cup soy milk (or other thick non-dairy milk)
3 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread
2 -3 tbsp. minced garlic (depending on your own taste)
1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Salt, white and black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Chop potatoes and place them in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil while you're working on the chicken and gravy.

Combine the fresh sage, parsley, olive oil, and lemon juice in a bowl, and then coat each piece of chicken in the mixture and place in a skillet. Saute the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side so that it gets a little brown, then place them in a small baking dish and place in the oven at 450 F for 20 - 25 minutes. I covered mine with foil, but feel free to bake uncovered or to remove the foil after 10 minutes to allow the chicken to brown a little.

In the same pan in which the chicken was sauteed, place the remaining 1 tbsp. sage and 1 tsp. minced garlic and saute for about 1 minute. Add the 1/3 cup white wine, bring to a simmer, and heat for another 1 - 2 minutes. In a small jar, combine the 2 tbsp. cornstarch with at least half of the chicken broth and shake it up to mix the cornstarch into the liquid. Add this to the pan, and then add the other half of the chicken broth, stirring constantly to avoid clumping. As the mixture thickens, add the hot water little by little until you've reached your desired consistency and taste.

Once the potatoes are tender, drain the water and mash them up with a masher or fork. In a small pan, heat the Earth Balance Buttery Spread with 2-3 tbsp. minced garlic (depending on how strong of a garlic flavor you'd like) and the fresh sage and parsley. Saute for about 2 - 3 minutes, and then add all of it to the mashed potatoes and stir in. Add the soy milk a little at a time, stirring it in thoroughly, until you've reached the desired whipped consistency. Add salt, white pepper, and black pepper to taste. Remove the chicken from the oven once it is thoroughly baked and serve with the smashed potatoes and gravy to top it all.

Spicy Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, and Blanched Haricot Green Beans

My mom's specialty dish has become roasted chicken and potatoes with her special blend of spices. It's something that almost everyone in my family will eat at least some part of (even though my sister will douse it, like everything she eats, in ketchup before touching it), which is in itself a rare treat for my mom. The spice mixture has an irresistible aroma, and it tastes a little bit different each time, depending on how much certain spices come through or not. The recipe below is very loose and can very easily be adapted to your own taste.

My mom assembles this in very large spice canisters that she saves, so we usually end up with a 40 oz./1.13kg bottle of this stuff. The measurements aren't very exact, and when she made me my bottle, she actually just drew me more of a map on the side of the bottle instead of giving me measurements, making marks where she stopped pouring the different spices. You really don't have to make a huge quantity of it, but it does store well and is nice to have on hand.
Mom's Spicy Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, and Blanched Green Beans

For spice mixture, use the following as a guide, but always make this according to your own taste and adjust as you go along!

2 parts garlic salt
2 parts oregano
2 parts sweet paprika
1 part pepper
1 part basil
1/2 part hot paprika

Assemble the spices in a large container with a lid, and shake until well-mixed. Store until ready to use.

For the meal:
3 -6 tbsp. olive oil
6-8 tbsp. spice mixture
1 whole chicken
5 lbs. Yukon potatoes, washed and cut into wedges
16 oz. fresh cut green beans (haricot are especially good)
1 tsp. baking soda (to cook with green beans; optional)

Chicken:
Clean the chicken and pat dry. Place on the roaster and rub with a thin layer of olive oil. (My mom and I have chicken roasters that are upright and more or less impale the chicken to bake it. You can use one of these, or just a normal roaster.) Then, pat all over with the spice mixture, coating it well. Place the chicken in the oven at 350 F for about an hour to an hour and a half, using a meat thermometer to gauge doneness, if necessary. The inside of the bird should be at about 190 F when it is done.

Potatoes:
Meanwhile, clean the potatoes and cut them into wedges (just remember, the bigger your wedges of potato, the longer you'll have to wait for dinner to be ready!!). Place them in a large bowl, and coat first with 2-4 tbsp. of olive oil, and then with the spice mixture to taste. I do not go light on the spices on the potatoes, but you should add the spice mixture to your own taste. If there is room in your oven, you can add the potatoes to cook with the chicken for the last 30 minutes of baking, or you can remove the chicken and start slicing it as the potatoes are cooking. If you put them in by themselves, raise the temperature to 400 F. Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning ever 10 - 15 min., or until you try one and it tastes done to you.

Green Beans:
In a small saucepan, bring some salted water to boil. Add the green beans and 1 tsp. baking soda (which will keep them looking lively and green), and boil for 5-10 min. or until they are tender yet slightly crisp. If you want it, you can add butter and salt to the green beans once they are done, but they are so flavorful that you don't really need to add anything. Serve and enjoy!