Hold The Gluten

Thankful for cheesecake?! Ok, I know that sounds ridiculously trite. Sure, I’m thankful for a copious amount of people/places/things more significant than cheesecake.  However, I do get a little “lunatic” when it comes to cheesecake.  So I truly am thankful to discover that I can bake my own never-ending supply of cheesecakey goodness!

Lunacy Exhibit A: I never, ever slice cheesecake!  Cheesecake is eaten directly from the plate it was plopped on with just a fork and a smile.

Lunacy Exhibit B: I eat in this barbaric fashion whilst hidden in my pantry to avoid sharing my delicious cheesecake.

Lunacy Exhibit C: I wholeheartedly consider cheesecake an acceptable breakfast meal.

Lunacy Exhibit D: I have threatened to inflict bodily harm or the dreaded stink eye on anyone who even contemplates eating my cheesecake.

Let’s keep this Gluten Free Thanksgiving menu going with yet another pumpkin-themed dessert!

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Be sure to have cream cheese & eggs at room temperature.

Gluten Free Crust:

1/2 cup pecans
18 Health Valley Rice Bran crackers
8 Mi-Del GF Ginger Snap cookies
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup butter (melted)

In a food processor grind pecans, cookies, & rice crackers until crushed & crumbly in texture (resembling ground almond meal). Add brown & white sugar and butter. Mix thoroughly. Press crumbs against the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.

Cheesecake Filling:

3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/8 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1 whole egg
4 egg yolks
3 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine pumpkin, 3/4 cup of white sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, mace, and 3 egg yolks. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Set pumpkin mixture aside.

Using a mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly incorporate 3/8 cup (=1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp) of white sugar, 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk, whipping cream, cornstarch, orange and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add pumpkin mixture and combine thoroughly. Add batter to springform pan. Bake in center of oven for 50 to 55 minutes at 350 degrees. I placed a pan filled with water on the rack beneath the cheesecake to eliminate cracking and maintain moistness. Remove cheesecake from oven and cool for at least 1/2 hour.

Sour Cream Topping:

2 cups of sour cream (I used reduced fat)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons white sugar

Combine sour cream, vanilla extract, and white sugar. After cooling cheesecake (still in springform pan) for at least 1/2 hour, pour sour cream topping over cake and return to a 325 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Cool cheesecake for at least an hour before removing from pan. Refrigerate prior to serving.

I’ve mentioned before that I am a vegetarian. Swore off meat, fish, and chicken at the rebellious age of 18. Well, except for bacon. Just couldn’t give up the bacony goodness. So, in reality, I am a bacon eating (fraud) vegetarian. Being a vegetarian, one would think that I love, ahem, vegetables. Truth be told, I am not a huge fan. I do have my favorites, but I’m not screaming from the rooftops, “I can’t survive without Dinosaur Kale!”

That being noted, I wholeheartedly enjoy any vegetable that can (safely) be combined with chocolate. After a few noxious attempts (do NOT try chocolate covered asparagus!), I have found a lovely and prolific vegetable to marry with my need for sweets.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 cup sugar (I used demerara raw cane sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, canola oil, agave nectar, sugar, and vanilla extract. Shred zucchini and place in a clean dishtowel. Use the dishtowel to wring out excess water (this will help prevent your bread from becoming too mushy). Stir in shredded zucchini into mixing bowl. Using a sifter, sift brown rice, millet, sorghum, and potato starch flours as well as baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Add into mixing bowl. Stir until combined and then fold in mini-chocolate chips.

Divide batter into four mini-loaf pans. Bake 25 - 30 minutes (until tester inserted in the center comes out clean).

I used to love the game of tag as a kid.  Freeze Tag, Cartoon Tag, Flashlight Tag; you name it and we probably played it!  The lovely Rachel (creator of the very delish Blueberry Pizza recipe) at The Crispy Cook tagged little ol’ me for a fun meme on my Five Favorite Kitchen Tools. I am not only a celiac but kitchen-aphobic (ok, not really a word), so my five favs are a bit of a long stretch. Tiffany at Make Mine Gluten Free had two hysterical favs - a fork and her microwave… My kind of cook!

What is a meme, you ask?  So did I (I thought Rachel was calling me a dirty word), but found that a meme is basically series of questions that a blogger answers to share some personal perspective or experience on random topics.

FYI, Rachel’s kitchen favs are her aloe plant, measuring glass, swivel peeler, orange frying pan, and wooden spoon.

Maureen’s Five Favorite Kitchen Tools

Fav #1:  My Avocado Pitter/Slicer.  Yes, a knife and spoon do work just as well, but I LOVE this tool!  I consume a lot of avocados, so my pitter/slicer comes in very handy.

Fav #2:  My Cuisinart Waffle Maker.  Oooh, this contraption rocks!  I use it to make my yummy Pumpkin Waffles.

Fav #3:  My collection of Depression Glass Reamers.  Ok, I admit this is not a tool that I actually use, but someone juiced something on these reamers.  Probably back in 1910, but it counts!

Fav #4:  My Peppercorn Cracker Thing.  Don’t you just love going to a restaurant where the waiter comes to your table and asks you (in a snooty voice), “Fresh ground pepper?”.  I rarely ever use salt, but pepper pretty much goes on everything.

Fav #5:  Clorox Wipes.  I have a sick, twisted perchance for cleaning.  Cleaning is my therapy.  When the going gets tough, I enjoy a good Clorox wiping of anything that is not nailed down.  Enough said

To keep this lovely meme a-goin’, I am tagging Gluten Free Gwen, Ellen at I Am Gluten Free, and Gluten Free Steve.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE peanut butter?!  From kindergarten through the twelfth grade I ate a peanut butter sandwich every single day at school (over 2,000 PB sandwiches consumed!). Recently, I discovered an amazing site which pays homage to one of my favorite delicacies.  I truly think the Peanut Butter Boy is my long lost brother (hey, in my family, you never know what other siblings are out there!).

Ahem, moving on…

So, Peanut Butter Boy is hosting “The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #4 - No Bake”. Oh yeah! No baking AND peanut butter - I am totally feeling this challenge. I immediately thought of a recipe my mom and I used to make when I was little. It’s no-bake, kid-friendly, and is a healthy treat. The original recipe called for wheat germ, however, I’ve substituted flax seed since “wheat is dead to me”. I must also note that I used to call these concoctions Peanut Butter Balls, but I decided to rename the recipe as it just didn’t sound very, uh, nice.

Peanut Butter & Honey Truffles

1 cup DRY milk (I used non-fat)
1/2 cup peanut butter (Crazy Richards Chunky)
1/3 cup honey (local)
1/4 cup ground flax seed (Bob’s Red Mill)

Mix all ingredients together. Form into small balls. Roll balls in coconut, cinnamon & sugar, or cocoa mix.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes and enjoy!

I humbly submit this recipe to my long lost brother’s Peanut Butter Exhibition #4

I have a special place in my heart for avocados…

When I was first diagnosed three years ago with Celiac Disease, I had no idea what the heck was safe to eat. I made the usual newbie mistakes, thinking “wheat free” labels meant gluten free (and totally glutening myself in the process). I was terrified to ingest much of anything for fear that my rear-end would literally self implode (ok, really bad visual, my sincere apologies). So, for the first month after going gluten free, I ate a block of sharp cheese, two avocados, and some sun dried tomatoes.

Every single day.

This odd trio of items were the three things I knew for certain were safe.

Three years later, I am (thankfully) educated like nobody’s business on the intricacies of Celiac Disease. Despite branching out from the avocado, cheese, and sun dried tomato diet, I still eat 1/2 an avocado most days on my usual serving of nachos. Recently, I have become slightly obsessed with guacamole. It’s very easy to prepare and the avocado provides a bevy of nutritional goodness.

Two important things to remember: (1) avocados practically turn brown as you are slicing them open, so plan to eat your guac in a timely manner and (2) be sure to select medium ripe avocados — you can check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. Ripe, ready-to-eat fruit will be firm, yet will yield to gentle pressure.

Guacamole is glorious with corn tortilla chips, as a topping for enchiladas or nachos, or as a filler for quesadillas. Kick back, enjoy some freshly made guacamole with a tasty mint mojito and savor the goodness of gluten free food!

Guacamole

2 avocados - peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 onion diced
1 jalapeno pepper seeded and diced (note – the seeds within the pepper provide the heat)
1 lime juiced
1 large tomato or 10 cherry tomatoes seeded and diced
1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, mash the avocados with a fork. Mash as little or as much as you like. Fold in the the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Ok, maybe I’m being uncreative, but I kept the automatic title the Blog People provided for me. “Hello World!” just seems appropriate. This is actually very exciting (and a little stressful). My first blog entry MUST be a cleverly written piece filled with wit, spunk, and meaningful text. No pressure, you can do it Maureen. Ok, now I’m typing to myself. Not a good sign…

Let’s just summarize things with Hello World! The Hold The Gluten blog (and future podcast) has been launched!