Pumpkin and Pecan Cookies

1/2 cup coconut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbs maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup mashed pumpkin
2 1/2 cups flour (I used a combination of rice/buckwheat/besan/tapicoa)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xantham gum
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup pepitas
2 tsp pumpkin spice (mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg)
pecans


METHOD
Cream coconut butter and brown sugar together.
Add eggs, vanilla and molasses/syrup and keep beating.
Stir in mashed pumpkin.
Sift flours, baking powder, spices and xanthum gum together, then stir into mixture with the almond meal and pepitas.

Place dollops of mixture on a baking tray and position a pecan on top.
Bake in a moderate oven until cooked through.

I don't think this recipe is exactly what I did - mine turned out a bit chewy and I think I may have changed things as I wrote them down. Have a play and give me some feedback on this recipe.

They are still yummy!

I would recommend storing them in the freezer and defrosting them before you want to eat them. Like all gluten-free baked goods these are best eaten the day you make them.

Pumpkin is the new Tomato! Pumpkin Bolognaise and Home-made Pasta

I just had to write a quick blog to tell you about my dinner tonight!! It was so yummy.

It can be made vegetarian without the mince. Just as delicious.

Pumpkin Bolognaise with Home Made Rice and Corn Pasta

1/4 of a large home-grown pumpkin, chopped

1 onion

garlic (as much as you like)

your favourite spices  (I used cinnamon, cumin, salt and pepper tonight)

ghee

250g mince

water

coconut cream (optional)

home-made pasta

Saute the onion, garlic, pumpkin and spices in the ghee until the pumpkin has begun roasting a little on the outside and the onion and garlic are softened. I cooked the mince separately and added it after the sauce was made, but I suppose you could cook it all together. I like one-pot meals. Less to wash up 

Add a little water – just enough to cook the pumpkin through.

Mash up the pumpkin  with a potato masher. It doesn’t have to be silky smooth. I like mine textured.

If you think your bolognaise sauce is a little thin you can thicken it a bit with some arrowroot flour and/or pour a little coconut cream into it. I did both because I was making it up on the spot. The coconut lightens the colour, and gives the sauce a sweet, smooth and creamy taste. I like it.

Serve it on top of home-made pasta made with this recipe from The W.H.O.L.E Gang – one of my favourite gluten-free cooking blogs. This pasta is super easy to make and super quick to cook. Best of all you can make twice the amount, roll it flat and freeze it for future meals.

Tonight I made our pasta with 2/3 brown rice flour and 1/3 maize flour. The recipe recommends rolling it thin enough to read newspaper from but mine was thicker than that. I rolled it between two floured (with rice flour) sheets of baking paper, rather than the plastic wrap suggested in the recipe. I found it much easier to peel off the paper and pop in the water.

Our pasta was thick and chewy, it cooked in just a few minutes and was delicious with the pumpkin sauce, although I couldn’t help wishing for a bit of parmesan cheese to sprinkle through it. I have just learned that pecorino cheese, made from sheep’s milk, can be used like parmesan, so I”ll be hunting some of that down for the next time we eat this yummy dinner.

Yet again, our dinner was consumed before a photo was taken.

Yay! I can eat bolognaise again. I think I’m starting to get over tomatoes now that I’ve realised that life can go on without them!

Sunflower Slice

I was looking for a gluten-free slice that was choc-full of seeds like the amaranth slice I bought from Mrs Flanneries last week - sooooo sweet and yummy! It is preferrable if you have soaked and then dried all your nuts and seeds first, but I was in too much of a hurry for something sweet. It is Easter and it is challenging watching everyone else eat chocolate! This is what I came up with:

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup quinoa flakes
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup puffed millet
1/2 chopped nuts
1/2 cup honey / maple syrup
1/2 cup ghee / coconut oil
1/2 tahini

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Melt honey and ghee in a saucepan until blended.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients then add the tahini.
Mix it well. It should be pretty sticky!
Spread it on a tray that you have greased well or lined with baking paper.
Cook in a moderate oven until golden on top.
Cool before cutting into squares.

No-Tomato Pasta Sauce

I’m really missing tomatoes.

I eat them in my salad, with my pasta as a sauce and as an ingredient in most of the meals I cook. I’ve recently made meatloaf without tomato sauce and that was fine and I can make a yummy dairy-free and gluten-free veggie lasagne with a pumpkin sauce … but how do you enjoy spaghetti bolognaise without tomatoes? It was dreams of spaghetti bolognaise that broke me in my vegetarianism during my first pregnancy and we have continued to eat it almost fortnightly ever since. It is a good fall-back meal when you’ve run out of ideas to feed the family – and my bolognaise sauce is always pumped full of grated carrots and zuchini, mushrooms, beans … whatever else I can find. It is hard to do without a reliable fall-back meal!!

Today I found a recipe that is perfect and I challenge you to make it and give it to your family and see if they notice the difference! It was so yummy, it looked even redder than tomato pasta sauce, it was as sweet and flavoursome and the texture was just perfect. I am looking forward to using this sauce as a ketchup (add a bit more vinegar and maple syrup), a pizza sauce (when I master gluten-free bases) and in gluten-free lasagne too. Mmm maybe even for baked beans … I still haven’t mastered home-made baked beans …have had a pot of beans cooking in the oven ALL day and still the beans are a little on the crunchy side, even with a 24 soak and ages of boiling even before beginning the recipe (but that is another story!)

I found the original recipe for the nightshade-free sauce HERE – but of course in the process of cooking there were a few changes made, so I feel ok about putting the recipe up on this blog. I will post it in the Kitchen Garden when Blogger lets me!

No-Tomato Pasta Sauce

3 carrots,

1/2 beetroot

2/3 cup of water

1 tbs apple cider vinegar

3 tbs lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt

sprinkle of dried herbs or a chopped handful of fresh herbs

1 diced cooked onion

1 clove garlic, crushed.

Steam the carrots and beetroot until they are tender and then blend them together

Cook the onions and garlic with the herbs and add this to the sauce with water and vinegar. Blend it together if you like a smooth sauce or just mix well if you like a bit of texture. My husband was making this and he added a bit of maple syrup to the sauce – but I am of the thinking that beets and carrots make it sweet enough.

Add any other ingredients you like: cooked ground meat for bolognaise or beans and spices for mexican.

This recipe made enough for two meals, so I froze the second half.

We ate ours tonight with a bit of cubed cooked ham, mushrooms and green beans and served it on top of home made gluten free fettucine that my husband made in our Samson juicer. The recipe is intended for the dough to be rolled between sheets of plastic wrap, then sliced and cooked … but it didn’t work out tonight. Instead the juicer saved the day and worked wonders for creating tasty pasta noodles to serve with this dish. The cook in just a few minutes!

I thought of taking a photo of our meal about halfway through eating it.

Trust me, it was delicious!

Sprouted Sunflower Seed Patties or Dip

I have recently had to make an adjustment to my diet and am now enjoying foods free of gluten, dairy, soy and nightshades. So I am experimenting with food!

This recipe was initially given to me as a delicious sunflower dip, but I wanted to make some patties that I could keep in the freezer for lunches - as I have been finding lunches a bit of a challenge without bread handy to make yummy sandwiches with - so I added the almond meal, oil and the egg to hold it together. If you leave these ingredients out it will make a really lovely sunflower dip.

1 cup sunflower seeds
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup almond meal
Handful of your favourite herbs (I used parsley)
Your favourite spices (I use cumin, and garam masala)

1 egg

2tbs coconut oil
1 carrot, grated

METHOD
Soak the sunflower seeds overnight. Rinse in the morning and twice during the day. Leave in the bowl until sprouts appear.

Place sunflower seeds, onion, celery, garlic, almond meal and herbs into the blender and pulse until mixed well. Add egg and coconut oil and blend again until well mixed. If mixture looks too dry add a little bit more oil.

Spoon mixture into a bowl and stir through grated carrot.

Form into patties. If they go in the fridge for about half an hour they will be nice and firm for cooking.

Cook under the grill or in a pan with a bit of ghee or oil.

Serve with your favourite dipping sauce and salad or cool on a tray and wrap individually in cling wrap or between sheets of baking paper in a container for storing in the freezer. This way you can take out patties 1 at a time as you need them.

Chick Pea Sausages

Tonight's dinner won an award. I even got the comment "these are better than real sausages" from my husband. That says a lot!

These yummy sausages resulted from a quick "what is in the cupboard?" scan. Let's see ... I had some almond meal, some chick peas, a tin of butter beans, a tin of coconut milk and lots of potatoes. End of pay week. Not much left. I knew there would be a riot if I served chick pea curry again...so no coconut milk tonight.

Another of my favourite recipe books has a recipe for what I thought were red bean sausages. I figured butter beans would do, but when I checked the book there were no beans in the recipe at all ... so I put them back in the cupboard but I'm not sure why because by the time I'd finished with it, the dinner I made had only three ingredients in common with the original recipe: cheese, onion and egg!

Here is the original recipe, from Alison and Simon Holst's Very Easy Vegetarian Cookbook:
"Cheese and Onion Sausages" (p88)
1 small onion
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
3 cups soft breadcrumbs ( I used almond meal)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sage and thyme (I only had Rosemary - threw a dash of cumin in too)
pepper to taste
2 large eggs
1/4 cup breadcrumbs to coat (I used almond meal again)

The recipe says finely chop onion and mix with ingredients and 1 of the eggs. Roll into sausages, dip into the 2nd egg (beaten well - acutally they just use the egg white but I forgot that bit).

BUT I added about a cup of chick peas that I put through the mincing function on my juicer, and a cup of grated carrot (suggestion from my son) and I rolled it in almond meal to make it gluten free.

Put in the fridge for half an hour then shallow fry in a little oil. Don't cook for too long or the cheese melts inside and they fall apart!

I served with a gluten-free pasta salad, and a home made gravy.
Yummy.

G rated and M rated tahini cookies

The G rated version of this comes (again) from the Recipes to the Rescue book, but I have changed it a bit.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup barley flour
1/4 tsp bicarb of soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 - 1 tsp ground ginger. OR 2 tsp carob powder
1/2 cup tahini (the original recipe used ground pecans)
2 tbs honey (original recipe uses 1 tbs honey, 1 tbs maple syrup)
4 tbs citrus juice (original recipe uses 2 tbs but I found this too dry)


Sift dry ingredients, add wet ingredients.
Knead lightly and roll into small balls.
Place balls on a baking sheet and press down with the back of a fork
Bake 15 - 20 minutes in moderate oven.
Yummy with chopped nuts, dried fruit or small choc bits.

MA Rated Tahini Cookies

1 cup tahini (crunchy peanut butter is also delicious)
1 cup sugar (ok - you don't need the full cup)
1 cup crushed chocolate bits (use the best!!)
1 egg

Sounds like it won't work but it does. Mix it all up really good and drop small spoonfuls on a tray. Bake in mod oven about 15 minutes. They'll spread a bit but they do keep their structure. This recipe was sent to me by my sister-in-law. I made a batch last night for Father's Day, but ate them with the women who came over to make dolls with me....so I'm making another batch this morning!!

Wacky Cake

This delicious recipe is from my friend Lianne and it is a family favourite. It is perfect for birthday cakes when you want to avoid chocolate but still want a yummy moist cake.  It is dairy-free and can be made gluten-free too, which makes it a cake for everyone. It can be made with self-raising flour - just omit the baking powder and vinegar. I'm guessing it is called a wacky cake because it is made directly in the pan you cook it in. I like that - less to wash up :)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/3 cup honey or 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup carob powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp vingear

1/3 cup oil

1 cup water

1/2 cup optionals (eg chopped dates, sultanas, nuts etc)

METHOD

Mix dry ingredients in an ungreased non-stick pan.

Add wet ingredients and mix really well

Cook 20 - 25 minutes at 180C

My Fave Childhood Cookies

Here's another yummy recipe that I grew up with - one of those ones that was written down on a bit of cardboard and passed from Nana to Mum to Me. I love these little numbers. I make them gluten free by using puffed rice instead of oats, and gluten-free flour instead of wholemeal flour.

1 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar (you can use less)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup SR wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice

1/2 tsp salt

I cup sultanas / chopped dates

3 cups rolled oats

Self-Saucing Pudding

This yummy pudding I made for Thursdays playgroup:

I doubled the recipe, and used carob instead of cocoa, soy instead of milk and SR gluten-free flour instead of wheat flour

and made a little extra sauce to pour over the top ;)

60g butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup SR flour

1 tbs cocoa

1/2 cup milk

extra 1/2 cup sugar
extra 1 1/2 tbs cocoa

1 1/2 cups boiling water

METHOD

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Add egg and beat well

3. Fold in sifted flour and cocoa alternatively with milk

4. Place mixture into a greased ovenproof dish

5. Mix extra sugar, cocoa and boiling water and pour over mixture.

6. Bake in a moderate oven, 180 - 190C for 35 to 40 minutes

serves 4 - (apparently! I can eat it all myself)

Gluten-and Dairy Free Muffins

Contributed By Renee Marshke-Beveridge

Dish history

After months of serving dodgy packet-mix gluten-free muffins at playgroup, my friend Jen was shown up when I “whipped” up this beautiful little recipe one morning when playgroup was held at my house. Jen thinks that these muffins are delicious (words by Jen on behalf of Renee)

Ingredients

· 1/3 cup sugar
· 1 cup brown rice flour
· 1/2 potato flour
· 1/2 cup corn cornflour
· 3/4 tsp salt
· 2 tsp g.f. baking powder
· 1tsp xantham gum
· 11/4 cups g.f. rice milk (check for no malt added)
· 2 eggs
· 3 tblsp. oil or melted butter
· 1 tsp vanilla. 

Method

1. Mix dry and wet, then combine.
2. Then for flavourings - just addblueberries, or a mashed banana, or sultanas, or choc chips.
3. Cook at 180C for 20 minutes

Carrot and Banana Breadmaker Cake

Contributed By Renee Marschke-Beveridge

Dish history

This recipe makes such a moist, yummy cake, and as it is made in the breadmaker it is a great no-fuss recipe. 

Ingredients

· 2 eggs
· 1/3 brown sugar
· 1/2 cup olive oil
· 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
· 1 cup grated carrot
· 1 cup mashed ripe banana
· 1 tsp all spice (or any spices you like)
· 1/2 cup sr gluten-f flour
· 1/2 cup plain gluten-free flour
· 1 tbsp xantham gum
· 1 tsp bicarb soda

Topping

· 250g cream cheese
· 50g butter (opt)
· 2 tbl lemon juice

Method

1. Put ingredients into pan in order. Select cake program button. 
2. Check after 5 mins of mixing, and if needed, mix with wooden spoon. 
3. Take out when finished and cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack. 
4. Whip all ingredients for topping until creamy and apply when cake is cool.

Vegan Brownies

Contributed By Jennifer McCormack

Dish Introduction

These brownies are gluten and dairy free and suitable for vegans. 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sweet potato puree (see below)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup canola, safflower, or sunflower oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup date sugar or maple sugar
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (can use carob chips)
• 1/4 cup crushed pecans (optional)
• 1/3 cup barley flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (can use carob powder)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Before you begin

Preheat oven to 170. For Sweet Potato Puree: Peel and cut 1 sweet potato into chunks: steam or oil 10-15 minutes or until tender. When tender, drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Puree in a processor or blender, adding the reserved cooking liquid a little at a time to thin if necessary. The puree should be slightly thinner than mashed potatoes. Sweet Potatoes give these brownies great texture and an intensely rich flavor.