Traditional Flakey Pie Crust

The flakiness comes from two primary ingredients- Water and Butter. Just like these 2 ingredients make the flakiness in traditional baking, they also do in gluten free baking.  For best results butter needs to be soft, room temperature by resting outside of the refrigerator vs microwaving.  If the butter melts, then the water and fat components will combine and you will end up with a hard heavy crust instead of a light and flakey one.  Which brings us to the next important bit of information.  When adding the butter, it is important that you handle the dough just enough to make the fat consistent through out. You don't want the butter fully incorporated as the water is. If the butter melts or is over incorporated, the possibility  of flakiness is gone.

Flakey Pie Crust

1/2 cup Tapioca Starch

1/2 cup Rice Flour

1/3 cup Sorghum or Coconut Flour

1/4 TSP Xanthan Gum

1 TSP Salt

2 TBSP Sugar

*  *  *  *

1/2 cup Butter, room temp

5 TBSP Cold Water 
*  *  *  *

1 Egg White

1) Grease 9" pyrex pie pan, then place all dry ingredients of list 1 in a bowl and mix them together well.

2) Take cold water mix it into the dry ingredients by pressing into the mix with a fork.  When the mix resembles sand, stop.

3) Drop butter into the mixture by nickle-quarter sized clumps.  Take a pastry dough mixer and cut into the dough until there no longer seems to be any of the water/sandy looking mix left.  You DONT want it to be brought together in a ball.  Might take 1-2 mins.

4) Lay out a sheet of saran wrap or two if one is not wide enough-  and dump the contents of the bowl on it.  With out pressing, spread it to about an 8" circle- cover it in another saran wrap, and gently roll to 11" circle.  If the dough splits, push it together.  The dough is forgiving and will go back together, just be sure to roll only once.

5) Remove top saran wrap and using the bottom saran wrap pick up the circle and lay it over your greased pie pan. Gently press into the pan.  If pieces brake off in transfer, just press back together-  no big deal. Form edge of crust as desired.
6) Bake the crust at 400 for 10 minutes then let it cool fully. 

7) Once the crust is fully cooled, using your fingers or back of a spoon, spread the final egg white over the whole crust and bake again at 400 for 6 minutes. 

8) Use this with any pie filling taking about 15-20 minutes off the baking time, or covering the pie with a tin foil tent for the entire baking time.

For a 2 crust pie follow the same instructions with these amounts:

3/4 cup Tapioca Starch

3/4 cup Rice Flour

1/2 cup Sorghum Flour

1 1/2 TSP Xanthan Gum

1 1/2 TSP Salt

3 TBSP Sugar

*  *  *  *

2/3 cup Cold Butter

1/2 cup (+/- ) Cold Water
*  *  *  *

2 Egg Whites

Follow baking instructions for bottom crust above, then follow baking instructions for pie recipe you are making being sure to coat the top crust with eggwhite. 

Apple Pie

What would Thanksgiving be without Apple Pie?!  My husband for one, would rebel against Thanksgiving if Apple Pie was not on the menu, so Apple is a must in this house.  This is our favorite Apple Pie recipe. Besides the fact that it is not from a can, the best part about this recipe is that every bite is relatively all apple.  It has no gel-like filler and as a result no extra sugar.  As for this recipe, it is pretty darn easy and absolutely worth it!

Apple Pie Filling

4-5 Fuji or Gala Apples

4-5 Granny Smith Apples

*  *  *  *

2/3 to 1 cup Sugar

2 1/2 TBSP Tapioca Starch

1 - 2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

Large Pinch Salt

*  *  *  *

Pastry for 2 crust pie

1 TBSP White Sugar

1) Peel and slice apples.  I slice them 1/8 inch or 3-4 millimeters thick. Place them in a large ziplock bag and set aside.  (If you are using a 9 inch dish and like your pie to be just level with the side of the dish, use 8 apples.  If you are using a 9 inch dish and like your pie to be over filled, use all 10 apples.)

2) In a bowl combine the 2nd list of ingredients. If you are using 8 apples and like your pie subtly sweet, use 2/3 cup sugar; if you are using 10 apples and like your pie subtly sweet use 3/4 cups sugar)

3) Pour mixture over the apples in the ziplock bag.  Seal bag and massage mixture til apples are evenly covered.

4) Pour into a glass baking dish and bake 400 til apples are soft and syrup has begun to collect in the dish (about 15-20 minutes).  Then remove pan from oven and pour into uncooked pie pastry and cover with second crust.  Be sure to cut vents in the crust (to let the steam escape and your crust bake) and sprinkle the 1 TBSP white sugar over the top.

5) Bake 400 for about 30-35 minutes or until pie crust looks done.

Pecan Pie

I LOVE the Holidays!  It is a wonderful time filled with meaningful and delicious baking. There is great reason to bake and even better reasons to eat what you bake.  In my mind it is the greatest time of the year for pies. Pies, when done right, are the BEST kind of dessert.  This year the favorite pie was Pecan Pie. I did not really stick to one recipe, but looked over several and then made a twist of them all.  And of course it would not be my kind of pecan pie if I did not use my trademark- Agave Nectar.

I think the most frequent complaint on a Pecan Pie, is that the sweetness is way too sweet. In my opinion, it is a turn off if all I taste is sugar.  Pecan Pie should not be flooded with a taste overwhelmed by sugar, it should be a subtly sweet pie that showcases the pecans, because after all it IS Pecan Pie. . .RIGHT? Corn syrup is very frequently used in combination with sugar as the primary ingredients.  I am not a fan of corn syrup or sugar.   SOO the changes I have made focus on taking away the sugar drenched taste that the typical Pecan Pie boasts, while increasing the Pecans to offset the sweetness.  The end result was a dreamy blissful pecan delight! 

Pecan Pie

1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 cup Maple Syrup

1/2 cup Agave Nectar

1/4 cup Brown Sugar (lightly packed)

2 TBSP Melted Butter

1 1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract
2 TSP Molasses

1/4 TSP Salt

4 Eggs

*  *  *  *

1 pie crust

Pecan Halves

1) Combine the first ingredients.
2) Pour into unbaked crust.

3) Top filling with enough pecan halves to fully cover.

3) Bake 350 For 40-50 minutes.  Check at 40 minutes and then increase by increments of 5 minutes if not done. You will know it is done when the filling swells to be dome like and when you touch/tap it has firm touch through the center.  As it cools, however, the dome appearance will go away.  In my oven it generally takes 50 minutes, but my oven really does not vent moisture very well, extending the time it takes to bake wetter goods.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is one of my favorite childhood dishes. I LOVED my mom's recipe.  She would make a big pot of it for all 9 of us, and there would never be any leftovers!  I had asked her for the recipe one time, but since she went by taste, it was really hard for her to give me an accurate recipe when I asked her for it.  What I ended up with had way too much sourcream in the sauce and just was not the same.  Even though this recipe is gluten and dairy free, it is the closest I have ever come to duplicating the recipe.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as our family does!

Beef Stroganoff

1 Pound Cubed Stew Meat

*  *  *  *

2 TBSP Butter

1/2 Medium Onion, Chopped

1/4 cup Fresh Parsley, Chopped

4 Medium-Large Mushrooms, Chopped

*  *  *  * 

1/2 Stick Butter

2 TBSP Rice Flour

4 TBSP Tapioca Starch

2 Cups Beef Broth

2 TBSP Potato FLOUR

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 1/2 Cups Rice Milk

*  *  *  *

1 Package (16 oz) Flat Wide Noodles, cooked and drained

1/2 - 2/3 cup Non-Dairy Sour Cream (optional)

Salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp to start)

Directions:

1) Crock Pot Stew Meat on high for 3 hours, Lo for 6 hours.  When it is cooked break apart the meat so it is stringy. You can cook the meat on the stove, but I do not recommend it, because it won't fall apart and will be 'tough'.

2) When meat is about ready, using the second list of ingredients: In medium skillet melt butter and sautee onions til soft and lightly brown, then add mushrooms.  After a couple minutes add the fresh chopped parsley. (I usually stick the noodles in their pot about right now) 

3) For this step you really want to make sure that you have all of the 3rd set of ingredients measured out and at your finger tips.  In a large skillet melt butter and then vigorously stir in the rice flour and tapioca starch. Continue stirring vigorously as you slowly add the beef broth making sure no lumps form. Keep stirring the sauce as you add half of the potato flour followed by the milk and then the remaining potato flour and garlic. Stir 'til the mixture has the thickness you like for your Stroganoff adding milk if you need to thin it some. 

4)  At this point you can add the sour cream to the sauce if you choose.  In our family we add sour cream to our plates as we serve ourselves.  There are many benefits to doing it this way; each person can add the amount they want, my husband can use dairy sour cream, and some of our kids prefer no sour cream. We also salt to taste as we serve too, for the same reason. In the end combine the meat, sauce and noodles in one large dish.  We usually use the crock pot, since it is the largest of our already used pots/skillets.

Creamy Cauliflower-Chicken Soup

Creamy Cauliflower-Chicken Soup

2 Medium-Large Chicken Breasts, thawed

3 Cups water for boiling

1/2 stick Butter

*  *  *  *

1/2 Medium Onion, chopped

2 thin long Carrots sliced in thin coins (or 10 baby carrots)

1 stalk Celery, well chopped

1 1/2 heads of Cauliflower, in big bite sized pieces 

1/4 cup Fresh Parsley Chopped

1 quart Chicken Broth

2 cups Rice Milk
Salt to Taste

Pepper to Taste

1/2 cup Non-Dairy Sour Cream (optional)
*  *  *  * 
1 recipe Cream of Chicken Soup

Directions:

1) Place chicken breasts and 3 cups water in a small-medium pot, cover and bring to boil. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE LIQUID WHEN DONE.  You will be adding the water to the final soup.

3) In Large soup pot, melt butter and sautee onions until soft. Then add celery to the pot.  After about 3-4 minutes turn heat to medium-lo and add other vegetables and parsley stirring to combine. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes stirring ocassionally. After 15 minutes add the 1 quart of Chicken Broth and increase the heat to medium.

4) While waiting on the vegetables, in a small pan make 1 recipe of Cream of Chicken Soup

5) When the Cream Cream of Chicken Soup is finished add it and the rice milk to the large pot with vegetables.

6) When the chicken breasts are cooked, set them aside, strain the liquid of particles, and add liquid to the large pot too.

7) Pull a part/shred the chicken breasts in strings.  You can add this to your main pot, or you can just add it to the bowls.  In our family we add the chicken to the kids bowls and my husband and I eat the soup as a vegetable soup. 

8) If you would like to add the sour cream, place it in a small mixing bowl and add about 1 cup of soup to it.  Mix well and then add it back to the pot and mix again.

9) We add the salt and pepper as we serve it, because some of us like more or less salt and pepper than others. If you want to add it to the whole pot at once, start out with about 1 tsp salt and 1/2-1 tsp of pepper.

**TIP:  Younger kids may not like seeing all the vegetables in their bowls.  I have one child like this.  SO what I did was smash/break up the visible Cauliflower in his bowl and he ate it with out a peep.  Pureeing the soup would also be a good easy idea for those little ones too.