Deep Dish Apple Pie

Pare 6 to 8 Granny Smiths and pack into buttered baking dish.
Season with 1/4 to 1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbl. rice flour (if apples are juicy)
Dot with 1 Tbl. butter or ghee

Cover with a top crust and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Crust:
1/4 C. ghee
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 C. brown rice flour
1 tsp. baking powder

This non-gluten dough is very tender and crumbly.  I'd add more flour to get it to a handling texture, then try rolling or pressing between waxed paper.  Carefully lie crust over apples and bake until apples are tender.
Serve with coconut ice cream.

Deviled Almonds

Fanny Farmer Cookbook, my favorite cookbook suggests these almonds served with chicken or fish.

Blanch and shred 2/3 C. almonds
Melt: 1 Tbl. butter or ghee
Add almonds and saute until well browned.  Set aside.

Mix together:
1 Tbl. Chutney
2 Tbl. chopped pickles
1 Tbl. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp sea salt
Few grains of cayenne

Stir into nuts and heat.

Blanching almonds:  Drop nuts into boiling water for 6 minutes.  Remove into colander and run cold water over nuts.  Pat dry between paper towels and let cool until warm.  Pinch nuts from skins.

Drawn Butter Sauce for Fish

To 2 Tbl. melted butter or ghee, add:
2 Tbl. Rice Flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Stir until smooth and keep stirring as you add:
1 C. hot water or Fish Stock and boil for 5 minutes.

Add:
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbl. butter, bit by bit

Around here we like to eat grilled salmon.  This sauce would be delicious over a salmon steak or over fresh cod or halibut.

Drummond's Holiday Eggs

This is the first time I've made this dish--haven't really ordered it out at restaurants either.  The main thing is it is full of butter.  If you can't eat butter because of lactose, perhaps try it with ghee.  I imagine the clarified fat would still work, as it thickens like mayonnaise with the egg yolks.

Fry up some bacon.  Two slices per slice of rice bread or non-gluten English muffin.  Set aside.

Hollandaise Sauce:
In a double boiler--I stacked a smaller pan inside a bigger one with water enough to boil but not spill over--
add three egg yolks.  Whisk them and then stir in 2 Tbl. fresh lemon juice.  Add !/2 cup ghee or margarine, 2 Tbl hot water and 1/4 tsp salt.  If you like, ad a pinch of cayenne.  Now heat this over medium heat until thickened.

Now poach two farm fresh eggs.  While they are simmering in hot water, toast two slices of rice bread from Trader Joe's.  

Now assemble.  First the toast, then bacon, then the poached egg, then the sauce.  Lovely and delicious.
Made a great birthday breakfast for a friend.

Dandelion Greens Salad

The first time I had this salad I lived at Priest Lake in Idaho.  I went out hunting wild mushrooms and picking spring greens around the lake with the owner of Hill's Resort.  The greens were bitter so we soaked them in water for some time.  This removed the bitterness and we enjoyed a spring tonic that night after a long snowy winter.

Dressing:

1 tsp minced shallot

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbl red wine vinegar

Sea salt and pepper, freshly ground

3 Tbl organic olive oil

Whisk together the ingredients or measure into a jar and tightly close, shake well.

Wash carefully 1 bunch of wild dandelion greens (about 10 ounces)  Fresh sprouts are best.

In a salad bowl, toss the dandelion greens with the vinagrette. Top with grated non-dairy Parmesan.

Serves 4.

Dirty Rice

Ingredients:

2 C organic Basmati brown rice

5 C organic chicken stock

2 Tbl live oil

1 pound Aidells Apple Sausage, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1/4 C chopped fresh parsley 

Sea salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Make the rice using package directions and chicken broth instead of water.

Meanwhile heat oil in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat. Brown sausage. Once browned, add the garlic, onion, celery, and green bell pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup chicken stock and cayenne. Cook until the stock has reduced a little. Add the cooked rice and parsley and stir thoroughly. Correct seasonings.  Serve with greens.

Optional:  Sun-dried tomato sausage, jalapeño sausage, etc.

Dates with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

1 Tbl.. organic olive oil 

2 Tbl. gluten-free bread crumbs

24 largeMedjool dates

1/4 lb. soft goat cheese (I like Costco's) or substitute a non-dairy

      cream cheese

Preheat an oven to 375°F.

In a small fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil.

Add the bread crumbs and cook until evenly golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Using a small knife, make an incision in each date. Carefully remove the pits.

Stuff 1 tsp. of the goat cheese into the cavity. Arrange the dates in greased oven-proof dish in a single layer, goat cheese side up.

Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top.  Bake until warmed through, 10 to 12 minutes.

Serve warm. Enjoy!

Dip (White Bean)

I was remembering the other day the dips my mother made.  It was a main party course: clam dip and onion dip with Lay's Potato Chips.  Mom mixed French Onion Soup mix into sour cream, voila--dip.  Then there was the clam dip--canned clams and sour cream--not sure what else she added.  Now I like bean dip--no sour cream for me.


WHITE BEAN DIP WITH ROASTED GARLIC

Roast one head of garlic drizzled in olive oil for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Cool and peel and place in blender along with:

1/2 c. Italian parsley, chopped & packed

1 small piece lemon peel

1 can cannellini beans (16 oz.) rinsed and drained

3 Tbl. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbl. olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

Process until smooth. 

Serve with lovely vegetables: pea pods, carrots, celery, red pepper and if you want, potato chips.

Denver Omelet

Beat together 4 large eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and set aside.
In a pan melt 2 Tbl ghee.  Add and cook until tender:


1 cup chopped onion 
1/2 cup chopped red bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers 
1/2 cup diced cooked ham 
Optional: 8 slices cooked & chopped bacon


Building the omelet: I watched Julia Child make omelets on TV one day recently--it was inspiring.  Me, my eggs get too brown.  The first kitchen I worked in, the chef warned me not to brown the eggs.  I continue to try to perfect the procedure, which is to pour the eggs into a very buttery heated pan.  Allow the eggs to set, pouring the unset egg over to the side of pan so it runs beneath the set eggs.  Once everything is set, spread the ingredients over one half of the eggs--sprinkle with cheese and canned green chilies (optional) and fold the other half of the eggs over the mixture.  Cook for a little bit longer to melt the cheese.  Serve with hot sauce and rice bread toast.

Dal

This is an East Indian side dish using lentils.  This recipe calls for red lentils, but experiment with other lentils. Be sure you wash them well and check for rocks.  I love the French lentils, the tiny green ones.  Perhaps this dish would work with them.  I have a delicious soup that I'll post later, easy to make and hearty to eat, using French lentils.

Ingredients

• 1 C red lentils
• 1 inch peeled and sliced ginger
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 1 tsp cumin seeds

Directions

1. Rinse lentils and in a medium saucepan combine with ginger, turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper. Cover with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Skim foam from top of lentils. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender.
2. Meanwhile, in a pan, cook onion and cumin seeds in oil until onion or transparent (not browned). Stir into lentil mixture and serve

Double Baked Potatoes

Wow, this used to be one of my favorite dishes.  I quit eating potatoes, not entirely, but cut way back because they have a high glycemic index.  If you want to loose weight or if you are insulin sensitive, here is one place to consider keeping control of your sugar intake to help your body process sugars more slowly.  Look on-line for a list of low glycemic index foods.  Then use the chart to help you plan the number of carbs you eat each day.  That said, once in awhile, splurge on a Double Baked Potato.

Four Servings
Bake two medium to large potatoes in 350 oven for about 1 hour.  Remove and cool for 10 minutes or long enough to handle.  Slice lengthwise in half.  Carefully scoop out potato, saving skins, and  mash and mix in a bowl until creamy, adding salt and butter and liquid (chicken broth or water) until the texture is correct.  Once mashed smoothly, refill the skins with this mixture and sprinkle with non-dairy cheese or (if you system can handle it) hard goat or sheep cheese.  Return to oven on a baking sheet and cook for another 10 minutes or so.  Serve with a protein dish and vegetable.  

Enjoy!