Easy Pear-Raisin Cookies (Gluten Free)

Posting after a long hiatus. This cookie recipe came out so good that I had to post it!

Dry Ingredients
1 C brown rice flour: Use Bob's Red Mill. Arrowhead is too coarse.
1/4 C potato flour
2 tsp baking pdr
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 C raisins
1 tsp cinnamon powder
toasted pecans (optional)

Wet Ingredients
1 pear, chopped fine (puree is fine) OR applesauce 1/4 C
1 egg
1/2 C honey (I used 1/4 because that was all I had.. worked fine).
1/2 C ghee (I don't use butter but clarified butter with the milk solids taken out - makes it casein free)

Oven temperature: 375 F

Kitchen aid wet ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients well. Drop spoon-size batter on to a parchment sheet and bake 10-12 mins.

Makes 2 doz cookies.

Buckwheat Millet Loaf

Buckwheat flour is quite a versatile flour. Presoaking the groats, drying them and powdering the result is quite a tedious process, but is well worth the effort.
I have used buckwheat flour with some success making idlis, dosas, rotis and now, finally, a loaf of bread.


Ingredient list

Dry Ingredients
1 C buckwheat flour
1 C millet flour
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Xanthan gum

Wet ingredients
1 C ghee
2 eggs
1/4 C almond milk
1/4 C honey (less will work)

Kitchen-aid the wet and dry ingredients really well for about 5-6 mins.

Bake at 350 for about an hour or so.

Amaranth Almond Sweet Loaf

I did it. Finally at the point where I am experimenting with baking!

Dry Ingredients
4 tbsp amaranth flour
3 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 C almond flour

1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp orange rind, grated

Wet Ingredients
1/2 C Fresh Squeezed orange juice
1/4 C honey
1/4 C ghee
2 eggs

KitchenAid the wet ingredients for about 10 mins, adding OJ last.

Add dry ingredients and mix really well for another 10 mins, high for at least 2-3 mins.

The resultant mixture will not be stiff.

Bake in a loaf pan (coat with ghee) at 375 F for about 15 mins. Once you start seeing it get brown, reduce the heat down to 225 F for about 10 mins or so. The loaf will *not* rise but you need to make sure its cooked through.

Soft and sweet bread, smells really good despite forgetting to add the vanilla/cardamom/cinnamon!

Cashew-Macadamia Butter Cookies

Adapted from Elaine Gottschall's Peanut Butter Cookies, Breaking The Vicious Cycle (BTVC)

Ingredients
1/2 C Ghee
1 C Cashew-Macadamia Butter
1/2 C honey
1 C coconut flour
2 eggs
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla






Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Drop on to a cookie sheet (I use parchment paper) and bake at 325 F for 10 minutes.

The cookies are crumbly and fairly decent. I think I prefer the almond flour cookies for taste and texture, but this is a good alternative - high in fat but low in oxalates which makes it BED-friendly.

Cooking with Buckwheat Groats

Buckwheat groats are the newest addition to the diet.
I've made the following with presoaked (8 hrs)
buckwheat groats. These have to be washed well - there's some slime that needs to be sloughed off.

1. Buckwheat kanji:
Dry the presoaked groats, and roast well with a little ghee. If you don't want to presoak, that is fine, I just think that the presoaking somehow makes the grain easier to digest.
pressure cook with some saffron, cardamom and a fruit (apple or pear, you can use a banana if its ok to use).
Blend with 2 tsp nut milk (optional) and some honey (optional).

2. Buckwheat adai: grind presoaked groats, cilantro, curry leaves, cumin, green chillies, salt to taste - add as little water as needed to make adais (pancake batter consistency). Add finely chopped veggies (onions, cabbage,grated zucchini, carrots) as desired. Pour ladlefuls of batter on a hot griddle and spread. turn over when golden brown and serve hot.
You can also add sprouted mung, or presoaked toor/split pea dal to the groats while grinding the batter. ( 1 dal: 4 buckwheat ratio)


3. Buckwheat idlis

Make batter as for buckwheat adai, skip the veggies/dal. Add 1 tsp of baking soda and pour into idli moulds.
These idlis came out a little hard, but still workable. I tailored this recipe by adding fresh shredded coconut, 1 zucchini and about 1/2 bunch of spinach. This seems to make the idlis a lot softer. The taste is reminiscent of the savory version of "Nonb Adai"

Avocado Lime Pudding

LIME PUDDING
by Nancy (from scd_recipe_ creators)

1 ripe avocado
3 Tbsp or more fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp honey
a few drops Frontier vanilla
(optional) a few Tbsp yogurt

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

My notes:
The basic recipe is avocado, lime juice and honey (or stevia or whatever you like). Don't skimp on the lime/lemon juice because that will overwhelm the subtle avocado flavor.
Sometimes i substitute the honey for a pear or a banana (which i know is a no-no on BED!).

This works pretty well. You can jazz it up with some cardamom powder or cinnamon if you want.

Arhar and Sprouted Mung Adai

Typically, adai is made with parboiled rice, and a mix of dals (urad, toor, chana etc). I love making adai because you can never go wrong with the proportions, fermentation is not needed, and it is a tasty, nutritious and complete meal.
Today's adai was BED-friendly. All ingredients except pre-soaked whole moong, split pigeon peas and salt are optional.
Ingredients
2 green chillies
curry leaves
cilantro
1 small pc ginger
1 small cup split pigeon peas, presoaked (arhar dal)
1 small cup sprouted presoaked whole moong
salt to taste
murungakai leaves coarsely chopped
Method
Grind all ingredients except murungakai leaves adding only as much water as necessary to liquidize. The resulting batter should be spreadable but not too runny (thicker than pancake or crepe batter).

Use coconut oil to lightly grease a hot cast-iron griddle. Plop a ladle-full of the batter on to a hot cast-iron griddle (Tip: rubbing a cut onion on to the griddle makes it "non-stick".) Spread the batter.
Flip over when nicely done.
Served today with a raita of cucumber and goat milk kefir.

Rajgira (Amaranth) Rotis

After the restrictions of SCD, its exciting to add a grain to the diet!
Here's what today's meal looks like. Pictures taken with a cellphone, this is the best I can do with limited resources!




Rajgira (amaranth flour) rotis, carrot salad, shredded cabbage curry, goat milk kefir, kiwi fruit, YCK.
Rajgira Roti Ingredients


salt to taste
powdered ajwain (optional)
1/2 chopped onion (optional - add any veggies of choice)
Amaranth flour
1 tsp coconut oil
2 tbsp water or 2 tbsp SCD goat milk kefir/yogurt




Making the dough

Mix all the ingredients together to make a smooth dough. Start with as little liquid as possible and add only as much as necessary to make the dough.






Pat into small-size rotis on a hot cast-iron griddle on medium to low heat.
Turn over when golden brown. Use coconut oil or ghee to keep the roti from sticking to the griddle.

Squash French Fries

SQUASH FRENCH FRIES
by Sheila

Butternut squash
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Cut butternut squash in thin slices by hand or with a slicer. Toss them in olive oil, and place slices on a *baking stone. Bake until crisp. No turning is required

Cauliflower Popcorn

From pecanbread: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pecanbread/message/72671

Cauliflower popcorn (from a newspaper)

Who woulda thunk that cauliflower could actually become addictive?
With this
simple high-temperature roasting process known as caramelization, your
basic
off-the-rack cauliflower is miraculously transformed into sweet,
lip-smackin'
candy bombs you and your guests won't be able to get enough of.

1 head cauliflower
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 425F, Cut out and discard cauliflower core and
thick stems.
Trim remaining cauliflower into florets the size of golf balls. In a large
bowl, add cauliflower, olive oil and salt. Toss thoroughly.

2. Spread cauliflower on a baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour or until
most of each
floret has become golden brown. Turn 3 or 4 times during roasting. Serve
immediately. Serves 6 to 8.

Update 11/29/2007
I tried this out. Didn't look like popcorn, but caramelized cauliflower does taste good. It didn't look much different from a crispy cauliflower sabji sans the spices.

Sheera

1 cup masoor dal "rava"
1.5 cups almond milk

roast masoor dal "rava' in ghee. Add 1/2 chopped banana.
Heat almond milk, when it is boiling, add roasted mixture

Add a little more ghee, elaichi powder, saffron.

Update 11/29/2007:

I've since modified this to be really quick and easy. I pressure cook matar dal (preroasted and coarsely powdered) with a banana, saffron strands and almond milk (or water).
After its cooked, I add a dollop of honey and a little milk. tastes great.

Cococut Flour Cake

I tried my hand at the coconut flour today and am really pleased with the results.
Here's the original recipe from SCD_recipe_creators yahoo group:

Ellen's Coconut Flour cake (advanced food on SCD):

6 eggs

1 stick butter, melted

1 tbl. vanilla

1 cup coconut flour

1 cup honey

1.5 tsp. baking soda

Mix extremely well (I put in in my Kitchen Aid mixer for several minutes). Pour into well-greased cake pan, preferably lined with parchment on the bottom (can be hard to get out otherwise). Bake at 350 until lightly brown (I think it was about 30 minutes).


I replaced the butter with ghee, and I added some powdered cardamom to mask the taste of the coconut flour. I forgot about the parchment paper (I won't the next time!).

The tip about mixing extremely well in a Kitchen Aid mixer can't be understated. I beat the mixture for about 5-7 minutes.

The resulting batter looked like this:

As you can see, I am not using a cake pan, I don't have one (!).

I put this in the oven at 325F. At around 25 mins I got a little nervous, because the cake looked brown around the edges but didn't seem to be done yet in the center. So I reduced the heat to 275 F let it bake for 10 mins (at 275 F).
Turned the oven off and let the cake sit there till I got back from a kid-pickup-and-dropoff (about 20 mins).




And... Voila. Here's my perfect pound cake...that earns a high rating from S.
The coconut taste is reasonably masked by the cardamom (especially when its warm), but starts to make its presence felt when it is eaten cold.

I am sure that some coulis (without sugar) made from blueberries or raspberries would be perfect.

I can't wait to see if I can figure out how to layer some lemon curd (from yogurt cheese and lemon) or other fruit to dress this up to make it birthday party-worthy!

Coconut Flour muffins

Almond flour is an SCD staple, but is high in oxalate which isn't so great. This causes oxidative stress and increases inflammation.
I think SCD recommends no more than 4 almond flour muffins a day - I think S eats 4 a day for sure. His lunchbox always has a couple of almond muffins. They're yummy, high in protein and calories.
But from the oxalate point of view: Almonds have 303 oxalates per 1/2 cup, which makes it a high oxalate food. I think I need to start experimenting with other nut flours:
Peanuts - less at 119 per 1/2 cup.
Macadamias 27 oxalates per 1/2 cup
Walnuts 45 per 1/2 cup
Pistachios 32 per 1/2 cup

Coconut Flour is another great alternative, and here are a couple of recipes that I am going to try from: http://www.simplycoconut.com/coconut_flour_recipes.htm

Honey Muffins

This is a basic coconut four muffin recipe you can use to make a variety of muffins.

3 eggs

2 tablespoons ghee

2 tablespoons coconut milk [ I used almond milk]

3 tablespoons honey

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup sifted coconut flour [Bob's red mill coconut flour]

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Blend together eggs, butter, coconut milk, honey, salt, and vanilla. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and thoroughly mix into batter until there are no lumps. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees F (205C) for at least 15 minutes. Makes 6 muffins.

I tried this out this weekend. They turned out great. I added raisins to the batter.

Pecan Muffins

Make Honey Muffins as directed and add ½ cup of chopped pecans and ⅛ teaspoon almond extract.

Blueberry Muffins

Make Honey Muffins as directed and add ½ cup of fresh blueberries and ⅛ teaspoon almond extract. Blueberries should be dry. If rinsed, dry before adding to batter. Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Make Honey Muffins as directed but omit the vanilla and add 2 teaspoons of lemon extract. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top of muffins just before baking.

Update 10/15/07
This has now become the weekly staple. These muffins are so spongy and moist they taste like they are made of gluten. The taste of coconut is completely masked if you add a banana. I've also doubled the quantities to make 12 muffins with no problem.

Cranberry Walnut Bread

8 eggs

½ cup coconut oil or butter, melted

½ cup coconut milk

½ cup sucanat or sugar [ replace with honey]

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon extract

½ teaspoon salt

⅔ cup sifted coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cup walnuts, chopped

Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, lemon extract, and salt. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk thoroughly into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in cranberry sauce and nuts. Pour into greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 60 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

PB cookies

PB cookie recipe - 1/2 C butter, 1 C peanut butter, 1/2 C honey , 1 C nut flour, 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla . cream butter. add PB and mix, add rest. drop on greased cookie sheet and bake 325F for 10 minutes

From SCD_recipe_creators yahoo group.

Update 10/15/07
I tried this recipe out yesterday. The cookies were delicious, soft and the sweetness was just right, but is not great for the lunch box because it falls apart. Sanjay loved them.
I added about 1 tbs coconut flour and left the cookies in the oven after switching it off. This made them much more firm and lunch-boxable.

SCD Apple Chutney

Cook 1/2 apple
1/2 green chilli
salt to taste

Grind the above to a smooth consistency, add goat yogurt instead of water.
season with mustard and cumin seeds.
Add pepper if S asks for "black stuff".

SCD Kootu

Cook vegetables ( Zucchini, carrot, beans, cauliflower) with salt and turmeric.
when veggies are cooked, add 1 tsp split pea powder.

Coconut version
Grind coconut, jeera and 1 small chilli. Add this mixture to the cooked vegetables.

Non-coconut version
Use almond paste left over from making almond milk. Add this mixture to the cooked vegetables

SCD Rasam

Grind 1 tomato, cilantro, salt, and amma's premade rasam powder.

Boil 1 C water and add the rasam mixture to it.
Add a pinch of black pepper powder and season with mustard and cumin seeds.

SCD More Kuzhambu

Grated ginger
1 sm green chilli, slit into 4 pieces
diced zucchini/peas
1C goat yogurt
1 tsp dal powder

Chaunk of mustard seeds and jeera in ghee. Add grated ginger, chilli and diced vegetables.
Add 1 sm C water and salt and turmeric to taste.

Mix dal powder with a little bit of water and add it to the goat yogurt. You should have a smooth mixture.

When the zucchini is cooked, add the yogurt mixture. Bring to a boil and take it off the stove.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Almond Milk

One of the things we had given up when we moved to SCD was the Pacific brand Almond milk - it had a couple of SCD illegal additives like rice bran syrup.

This weekend I made a trip to Ranch 99 in search of young coconuts and ended up coming home with a Soy Milk Maker. (tayama DJ-15A). I paid about $40 for it and used it to make almond milk.
I used dry slivered almonds (I will probably pre-soak raw almonds, take the skin off for subsequent use).
It was pretty straightforward and is a good backup to the goat yoghurt smoothie that S is getting tired of these days. makes about a jugful (about 3 glasses). S was OK with all the supplements in it, though it tasted a bit chalky to me.
I bought some clear and delicious Orange Blossom Honey from the farmer's market in Mtn View and used a spoonful to sweeten the milk.

I've seen reviews on Amazon that says that the maker doesn't last for very long, so we'll see how it goes.

Update 9/24/2007
The only part of the nut milk maker I'm using now is the fine-mesh stainless strainer! I'm using the time-honored way of making nut milk: soak almonds in hot water, peel the skins, and grind finely in the Vita-mix, strain, add hot water as needed.

Masoor Dal "Rice"

1 C masoor dal mock "rice"
3.5 C water

Spread ghee in a saucepot. Add water and bring to a boil. Add mock "rice" to the boiling water and bring flame down to low.
Simmer over open flame till the water evaporates, about 30-40 mins.