Gluten and Dairy Free Cream of Mushroom

Hello.

I'm reposting this piece from last year. The soup is amazing, and I think everyone should make this for Thanksgiving!

There was a long time (until about 10 years ago) that I didn't care for soup much. I've always loved split pea with ham and New England clam chowder, but other soups just seemed thin and boring to me. In the recent past, though, I realized that soups, curries and stews are all based on the same principles, making me try thicker soups with lots of layers of flavor. A whole new world opened to me. And, of course Asian noodle soups are a favorite of mine now, so I can say I'm a soup lover through and through.

I came across a gluten and dairy free cream of mushroom soup (via my friend Thanya whose sister-in-law is an expert of all things allergen-friendly). And, this year, I added bacon to it, so now, it's perfect.

There are a lot of steps, considering that a traditional cream of mushroom soup doesn't involve three steps to thicken it. And, of course, I love cooking my mushrooms in butter, but that doesn't really fit into my diet right now. By using bacon fat, I was able to bring back some of the depth that butter gives the mushrooms (and of course, anything with bacon is better).

So consider this a nudge to make a wonderful and satisfying cream of mushroom soup for your friends and family this holiday season!

Gluten and Dairy Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

adapted from original recipe: Cybele Pascal, Allergen-Free Cuisine, 10.8.2010

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small shallots finely minced
• 1 ½ lb. mushrooms, chopped (I use a mix of white mushrooms and Chantrelles)
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 Tablespoons tapioca starch/flour
• 2 ½ cups chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon porcini salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 Tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• ½ cup rice milk
• 1/2 pound black forest bacon, cooked and diced

Method:

• Over high medium -heat, heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot, large enough to accommodate all ingredients.
• At this point, I also add in a bit of the grease from the bacon (used for garnish at the end). It give the mushrooms a nice richness.
• Add porcini salt, shallots and mushrooms, stir often, cook for 3 minutes.
• Lower heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes until golden brown.
• Stirring well to coat mushrooms, add in thyme and tapioca starch/flour.
• Reduce heat to low. Scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the tapioca and mushrooms incorporated, cook for about 5 minutes.
• Making sure that all clumps are broken up, add 2 cups of the chicken broth, salt and pepper.
• Stir well, increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Boil remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock and add quick-cook tapioca to the stock. Mix gently.
• Add chicken stock/quick-cook tapioca mixture to the pot.
• Keep the heat on a low simmer, stirring often to help the quick-cook tapioca dissolve. It's ready when the tapioca is completely clear.
• Add rice milk.
• Pulse in food processor (or use a hand blender or a blender) until desired texture is reached. I keep mine kind of chunky, but you can blend it all the way to smooth.
• Serve in bowls with diced bacon on top.

Potato Pancakes My Way: Gluten Free and Dairy Free

Potato Pancakes!

I have been buying frozen potato pancakes for a long time now, but always loved Gran Fran's homemade ones. We would sometimes have breakfast for dinner, which mostly meant bacon and eggs or french toast, but sometimes included potato pancakes. I love the crispy outside and the warm, soft inside. Gran Fran's were loaded with salt and sometimes had corn added to them. I remember the sizzle of the hot oil and Gran Fran yelling for all the kids to back away from the stove (and to leave the kitchen) in case the oil splattered when she put the potato pancakes in the pan. I can't recall anyone every getting hurt when Gran Fran fried things, but she still tells the kids (meaning me and my five adult siblings) to back away when she's frying. Old habits die hard, I guess.

The other night I had some leftover mashed potatoes and remembered that this was the base for Gran Fran's potato cakes. I don't think I made them the same way she does, but they tasted great. Gran Fran's version definitely had flour involved. Mine use just an egg and the mashed potatoes, which I made with almond milk and olive oil, making them gluten and dairy free.

Isabella, my daughter, loved them so much, she told me not to give her anymore because she wouldn't know when to stop eating them and did not want to over do it. These are definitely being made on a regular basis around here.

So enjoy these with your family and friends. You can even try some add ins like leftover bacon (but for real, who has that on hand?), scallions or grated cheese. Have a lovely weekend!

Potato Pancakes: Gluten and Dairy Free

Ingredients:

• 1 cup leftover dairy-free mashed potatoes (recipe here, includes dairy free option)
• 1 egg
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix mashed potatoes and eggs until a thick batter comes together. If you are adding in bacon, scallions or anything else, mix it into the batter now.
2. Heat the olive oil until super hot but not smoking in a pan.
3. Using a tablespoon, spoon the mixture into the pan, leaving a good amount of space between them in the pan.
4. Take a spatula and press down on the potato mixture in the pan to form a pancake. Some of the batter will ooze out the side, which is fine.
5. Cook on first side for 4 minutes, until you can see the edges browning.
6. Flip over the pancakes, press down once more with the spatula and cook for another 4 minutes.
7. Remove from the pan onto a paper towel lined plate and add salt.

Enjoy!

Mother's Day: Corn Muffins, Minted Strawberries, Iced Almond Milk Cappuccino

A wonderful Mother's day breakfast created by three generations: me, mymother and my daughter. It's not a complicated meal, but it is delicious and means a lot to me.

My daughter usually makes me corn muffins on the big day. I've always loved them, and she knows it. She generally serves them with a side of strawberries.

When I serve strawberries, I like to soak them in a simple syrup infused with mint. That's my contribution to this meal.

As for my mother, Gran Fran, no matter how long it has been, to me Spring and Summer at her house mean iced blended cappuccino drinks.

Please enjoy this with your family and let Mama put her feet up and relax while you scurry around and meet her every need.

Isabella's Corn Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 stick, 8 tablespoons, unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup gluten-free flour (recipe found here or pre-packaged mix found here)
• 1 cup corn meal
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar

Method

1. Heatoven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt butter.
3. Brush some of the melted butter on 12-cup muffin tin.
4. Place tin in oven.
5. Mix together milk, melted butter, and eggs
6. Mix together dry ingredients.
7. Swiftly stir wet ingredients into dry; do not overmix.
8. Carefully, spoon ingredients into hot, buttered  muffin tin
9. In lower third of oven, bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Remove from tin; wrap in dishtowel in dish or basket if serving immediately.
11. Otherwise place on wire rack, wrap individually in foil, seal in plastic freezer bag. Reheat before serving.

Natasha's Mint Marinated Strawberries

Ingredients:

• 6 mint leaves minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large strawberries cut into pieces

Method:

1. Put mint, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the mint simple syrup over the strawberries and let them sit for five minutes.

Gran Fran's Almond Milk Blender Cappuccino

serves 1

you will need a blender (ok, seems obvious, but thought I should mention it)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups hot coffee, if it’s winter; cold if it’s summer
• 1 cup almond milk (Gran Fran uses whole milk)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 ice cubes if it’s summer
• Cinnamon, optional

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in blender; adjust amounts to fit capacity of blender.
2. Hold down cap of blender with a dish towel.
3. Turn blender on high.
4. Blend until frothy and creamy.
5. Pour into glasses or cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
6. Serve immediately.

Orange You Glad I made a Tart?

Herewith a recipe for an orange puff pastry tart. It's so easy, it's almost criminal. If you use pre-made dough, there are only 4 other ingredients involved.

My daughter saw the finished product and asked when I had found the time to make the tart. She was sitting in the kitchen with me the whole time, but because it took such little effort, she had no idea I had made an entire tart.

This is the first time I've tried oranges as part of a tart. I really like the scent of the vanilla with the oranges and love how the segments look all laid out in rows on the pastry dough. Get creative here and add more fruit, or even a thin layer of warmed up apricot jam onto the dough before you place the orange segments.

Served warm with a scoop of coconut milk ice cream you will be brought right to summer's doorstep.

Note on the pastry dough:

Since this tart was for my co-workers, and not good old gluten-free me, I used a standard puff pastry, but did come across this gluten-free version from an Australian site. Or, you can make your own, using this recipe from the blog Tartelette, which I plan to do very soon.

Orange Puff Pastry Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
• 2 cups oranges, rind removed and cut into segments
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix the citrus segments with the sugar, vanilla and lemon juice.
3. Lay the puff pastry on a baking sheet, pricking it with a fork, to keep it flat while baking.
4. Place the citrus segments on the puff pastry.
5. Crimp the edges of the pastry dough up over the edges.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust just begins to brown.
7. Add the remaining juice/sugar mixture and bake an additional 10 minutes, until the crust is crispy.