Category: Recipes

Holiday Cooking Extravaganza!

While the inspiration for my previous recipe post for Pumpkin Pie Minis came from Southern Living Magazine today’s post for cooking a turkey comes directly from NYT Cooking section courtesy of Samin Nosrat. Chef Nosrat is the author of the cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat which is also a Netflix series by the same name. I love the cookbook. I loved the Netflix show. I love Chef. I am super excited to make this turkey for the upcoming holiday table! Hope you will find it intriguing too!

BUTTERMILK BRINED ROASTED TURKEY

You will need to start this recipe 2 -3 days before roasting day .

You will need a 10 – 14 lb turkey, a sharp butchers knife or sharp kitchen shears, 2 – 2 gallon roasting/cooking bag, a very large bowl or a baking pan with sides, 3 quarts of buttermilk, 7 T of kosher salt, a large roasting pan

Begin by spatchcocking the turkey. You can find videos for this process on You Tube if needed but here is the simple description………. place the turkey breast side down on a cutting board. Using your kitchen shears begin to snip the backbone out, alternating from right to left sides of backbone as you progress. Stay as close to the backbone as possible in order to snip the smaller bones away from the spine. When you’ve snipped it away, remove the backbone adding it to the neck/giblets and wingtips for making stock and gravy.

Turn the turkey over, breast side up, splay out the legs and press down on the breast bone to flatten the turkey out on the cutting board. You will hear or feel the cartilage release in the process.

Place one of the cooking bags inside the other and place them in the the bowl or baking pan. Combine the buttermilk and salt in the inner bag. Allow the salt to dissolve before adding the turkey to the bag.

Add the turkey to the bag with the buttermilk and salt. The outerbag will protect from leakage. Squeeze any air from the turkey bag as you seal it. Then roll it around in the bowl to coat the turkey.

Refrigerate the bagged turkey!

Allow the turkey to marinate in the bag, in the fridge, for 48 hours turning the bag about every 8 to 12 hours. You want to make sure all the surfaces of the turkey are being marinated.

3 hours before you want to begin roasting remove the turkey from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Wipe off as much of the buttermilk brine mixture as you can.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees

Set the turkey, breast side up, on a parchment lined roasting pan or baking pan with sides. Place the pan in the oven, keeping an eye on the turkey every 30 minutes or so and rotate the pan back to front after each check in. You may need to tent the turkey with foil if the skin begins to become too dark.

Depending on size the turkey will take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours to roast. Check with a meat thermometer for internal temp of the breast at 150 and the meat of the thigh to 165.

Transfer the turkey to the platter and allow to rest 20 minutes before carving.

Holiday Cooking Extravaganza!

Recently when traveling I picked up a copy of Southern Living Magazine -attracted by the cover photo of mini pies. Given the potential for smaller numbers at the Holiday Table this year I was intrigued by ideas for managing our food options. We will be sharing our holidays this year only with our adult daughter so the menu will be nothing traditional. We will have some pumpkin pie paired with a brined/spatchcocked turkey, potato galette, fresh cranberry coulis, cornbread dressing and a vegetable – looking to be roasted carrots at this point. Everything but the turkey will be vegetarian as that comports with our daughter’s vegetarian diet. Everything gluten-free as they suits my dietary needs! Here’s the pie! Keep posted for more recipes! And Happy Thanksgiving All!

PUMPKIN PIE MINIS

You will need: prepared piecrust (I used the Minus-G mix), a large round cookie cutter – approx. 3.5 to 4 inches, large parchment style muffin papers, muffin baking pan, bowl for the filling…….

16 oz pumpkin (I used fresh pumpkin – roasted and pureed)

1/3* – 1/2 c dark brown sugar

*I found the 1/2 c combined with the granulated sugar to be a bit too sweet for my taste so am amending the measure to decrease the amount of brown sugar to 1/3 c

1/4 c granulated sugar

2/3 c heavy cream

3 eggs

1/2 t salt

2 t cinnamon

dash of allspice**

dash of ground cloves**

**alternatively you can use pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg – personally I do not like either so hence the allspice and cloves**

In the filling bowl combine the pumpkin puree, sugars, cream, eggs, salt, cinnamon, allspice and clove.

Whisk to blend well and set aside.

Roll the dough and cut round disks with the cookie cutter.

Place a disk of dough on the center of the muffin paper and work it to create a well with sides of dough.

Fit the pastry filled muffin paper into a well of a standard sized muffin baking pan working to fill all the wells of the pan.

Measure some of the filling into a glass measuring cup for easy pouring and fill the pastry lined muffin papers with the pumpkin filling.

You will have enough dough and enough filling to fill 24 muffin wells and possibly enough to bake off some filling without pastry – I got three 4 inch cake pan fulls. Butter the cake pans and use the rest of the filling to bake off crustless pumpkin ‘pies’.

Bake about 11 minutes, turn pan and bake an additional 9 – 11 minutes.

Use a knife to test filling for doneness – filling should separate without running back together.

By baking the minis you can freeze the pies for eating over the next few weeks.

One thing I really like to use to top off a pumpkin pie is walnuts or pecans simmered in maple syrup (whole or chopped – let the nuts cool before topping) and use fresh whipped cream sweetened with a bit of sugar or maple syrup and with a bit of vanilla!

Chocolate Chip Cookies – gfJules

Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from gfjules

Ingredients

½ c butter (Earth Balance alternative)

½ c shortening (or all butter)

1 c firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 c granulated cane sugar

¾ t sea salt

1 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

2 1/2 c All-purpose gf flour (GF Jules)

2 t pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs OR 1/2 cup applesauce OR reconstituted Ener-G egg replacer

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Optional add ins: white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, toffee chips, m&m candies, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts or pecans ……

Instructions

Bring the butter and shortening to room temperature, then beat together with sugars until light and fluffy – several minutes.

Mix in the vanilla extract and eggs until combined.

In another bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

Gradually stir these dry ingredients into the sugar mixture.

Stir in chips and nuts, if so desired.

You may bake this dough immediately or scoop dough into a container (metal, if possible) and cover tightly.

Refrigerate or freeze until very cold.

Preheat oven to 350° F (static) or 325° F (convection).

Drop by measured tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, at least 1 inch apart.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned.

Let them stand 5 minutes before removing them to cooling racks.

Makes approximately 60 cookies.

To bake cookie dough as gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars …

Spread the chocolate chip cookie dough into an oiled pan.

If you’ve already baked out a batch of cookies, you will probably only have enough dough left for an 8×8 pan, but you could use a jelly roll pan or 9×13 if you have a full batch of dough.

Spread evenly & bake at 375°F for about 20 minutes.

Remember, just like baking cookies, take these out of the oven just BEFORE they look totally done.

They’ll keep baking a bit longer when you remove them, and this way they’ll still be nice & chewy in the middles.

Black Olive and Honey g-f Bread Loaf

Source: Voraciously from Washington Post

Black Olive and Honey Gluten-Free Bread

Active: 35 mins Total: 3 hours 20 mins Servings: 8 to 10

Cookbook author Aran Goyoaga

Source: Washington Post

For a simple loaf, omit the olives and caraway seeds.

Add chopped walnuts in place of the olives, and substitute any kind of seed for the caraway, if you like.

If you are avoiding added sugar, you can also omit the honey.

NOTE: It’s essential to let the bread cool completely before slicing, otherwise it will have a gummy crumb.

You can double the recipe for a taller loaf, but make sure not to over-proof the dough.

Add 10 minutes to the last phase of baking time.

Storage: The bread keeps best at room temperature wrapped in a clean kitchen towel or parchment paper for up to 3 days.

Where to buy: Superfine brown rice flour is available online; look for Anthony’s or Authentic Foods brands for best results. Do not purchase regular brown rice flour, as it’s not the same. Psyllium husk powder, sorghum flour and tapioca starch (sometimes known as tapioca flour) are available online.

Make ahead: The bread needs to cool completely, ideally overnight, before being sliced.

Ingredients

1 t extra-virgin olive oil, for greasing

3/4 c (105 grams) superfine brown rice flour, plus more for dusting

1 2/3 c (400 grams) filtered water, heated to 110 degrees

1 T (25 grams) honey

2 t (8 grams) active dry yeast

4 t (15 grams) psyllium husk powder

3/4 c (105 grams) sorghum flour

3/4 c (90 grams) tapioca starch

1 T caraway seeds (optional)

1 1/2 t kosher salt

3/4 c (90 grams) pitted black olives, such as Kalamata or oil-cured, roughly chopped (optional)

1 T apple cider vinegar

Method

  • Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-by-4-inch loaf pan with the olive oil.

Dust the inside with brown rice flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, honey and yeast.

Set aside to proof for 10 minutes.

Whisk in the psyllium powder, and let it gel for 5 to 10 minutes.

  • While the yeast mixture is gelling, in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, caraway seeds, if using, and salt.

Add the olives, apple cider vinegar and the yeast mixture to the bowl.

Lock the bowl in the base of the stand mixer and attach the dough hook.

Mix on medium speed until a moist and loose dough forms, 2 to 3 minutes.

The dough will be sticky and shaggy.

  • Dust a work surface with brown rice flour and turn the dough out onto it.

Knead the dough a couple of times, shaping it into a loose log about 9 inches long.

Gently transfer the dough to the loaf pan.

Cover with a clean linen towel or plastic wrap and set aside to proof at room temperature until doubled, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

  • Position a baking rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

Dust the top of the dough with some brown rice flour.

Bake the bread for 1 hour.

Carefully, turn the bread out of the pan, and place it directly on the oven rack.

Bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow on the bottom when tapped. Transfer the bread to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting.

Nutrition Calories: 140; Total Fat: 3 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 330 mg; Carbohydrates: 28 g; Dietary Fiber: 2 g; Sugars: 3 g; Protein: 2 g

Cocoa Applesauce Muffins

I had no baking powder. What to do? Found this recipe and with a few modifications had a moist and tasty muffin. Added the frosting and it was a cupcake!

Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1 1/4 cups GF flour blend
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup nuts chopped, optional
Instructions
  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Grease bottom only of muffin cups or use paper liners. The 2 1/2 inch diameter size will make 12 muffins.
  • In a small bowl, combine the cocoa and oil, stirring until smooth.
  • Add the applesauce and egg, blending well.
  • Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.
  • Stir in the applesauce mixture and optional nuts, just until dry ingredients are moistened.
  • Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full.
  • Bake 20 minutes.
Notes

Used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF Baking Flour.  Omitted the nuts.