Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits!

I've never exactly understood the whole idea behind gravy and biscuits... but I do love biscuits with butter or jam or used to soak up a lovely golden egg yolk, or even as the foundation for delicious summertime strawberry shortcake. It's definitely on the top of my most missed gluten foods. Well, not anymore!!

Look how golden and beautiful on the bottom and fluffy inside these are!!

I'm very pleased to announce that missing biscuits is now a thing of the past! And the ultra good news is this is a super easy recipe as well.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits

• 1 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup potato flour
• 2 Tablespoons corn starch
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon cane sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 6 Tablespoons cold butter
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. I used a food processor but you can also use a pastry cutter. Combine all dry ingredients and process in food processor until thoroughly combined.

3. Add cubed cold butter and pulse till meal consistency is achieved. 

4. Add buttermilk and stir till just combined.

5. Flour cutting board or countertop with brown rice flour. Dump biscuit dough out onto surface, it will be wet, dust with more brown rice flour to make it easier to work with. 

6. Do not using a rolling pin! Use your hands to lightly pat out dough to 1 inch thick and then using a biscuit cutter or just a glass cut out circular biscuits.

7. Place biscuits onto un-greased baking sheet. I used a silipat for this but you can parchment paper or just a decent baking sheet.

8. Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes, you are looking to achieve a golden brown on the bottom and just a lightly golden top. 

9. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, this will allow you to remove them from the baking sheet easier and not have them crumble. 

10. Serve warm as you wish! I also found these reheated very nicely as it makes about a dozen biscuits and I certainly can't eat 12 biscuits in a sitting. haha!

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Filled generously with butter and drizzled with honey!! 

Polenta Mac and Cheese Bake

I still haven't come around to embracing any of the gluten free pastas but I adore polenta. Trader Joes stocks the prepared polenta rolls, in the scheme of things I guess prepared polenta is kind of overpriced for what it is but the convenience makes it an excellent thing to just keep a tube of around the kitchen. Also it doesn't need to be refrigerated prior to opening either.

This takes about 15-20 minutes to prep so its a super easy and delicious dish that can be served as a side or just a main meal comfort dinner.

Gluten Free Polenta Mac and Cheese Bake

• 1 Tube of prepared polenta
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 cup cheese (I used havarti and sharp cheddar)
• 1 Tablespoon corn starch
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 slices Udi's Gluten free bread (I use the ends)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Cube polenta into bite size pieces and place into oven safe casserole dish. 

3. Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in sauce pan. 

4. Mix corn starch into cold milk and add to sauce pan. 

5. Add you cheese, it should be grated so that it can melt easily. 

6. Cook over low heat till cheese it melted. At this point the sauce should be thick and cheesy but the corn starch that was in the milk with thicken it and cut the stringy nature of the cheese. 

7. Stir in the salt. 

8. Dump cheese sauce over the polenta pieces and stir so that all the cubes are coated. 


9. In food processor combine parmesan cheese, torn up slices of bread and 1 tablespoon butter. Process till combined.

10. Top cheese sauce covered polenta with bread crumb combination. 

11. Place into oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the bread crumbs on top are golden and crispy. 

12. Allow dish to cool just a bit before serving!

Enjoy! xoxo- Iris 

Gluten Free Vegan Garbanzo/Quinoa Flour Bread Sticks

I picked up a box of organic quinoa flour from Whole Foods last night. I heard that it has a nutty taste to it and that definitely intrigued me. I actually saw it being used in a non gluten free recipe for brownies so that definitely intrigued me. I would say this invention is something akin to the bread stick version of socca (French) or farinita (Italian.)

You will find I suggest using yeast in the recipe but actually I was thinking of this more for the flavor that it brings to the bread versus any actual rising action that it might inspire in the dough. You could actually use this as a pizza crust but I think it works wonderfully as indicated in the below recipe.

Gluten Free Vegan Garbanzo/Quinoa Flour Bread Sticks

• 1 cup Garbanzo Flour
• 1 cup Quinoa Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 1 Tablespoon cane sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons mixed herbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Mix 1/2 cup warm water with yeast and sugar. Set aside for 5 minutes.

3. Add olive oil to water yeast mix. Add flours, salt and baking soda. Mix everything together.

4. Divide dough into 4 balls.

5. Take one of your 4 balls of dough and by dividing it into halves make 8 small balls. Roll each ball out on a cutting board into thick noodles. 

6. Using seasoning of your choice, mixed dry herbs and salt, roll your rolled out dough pieces gently in the seasoning to coat. 

7. Place bread sticks onto foiled baking sheet. 

8. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully flip the sticks over. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

9. Remove from oven, cool and remove from pan. 

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Triple Chocolate Gluten Free Flourless Brownies

You will never need another brownie recipe again. This is easy. This is delicious. This is gluten free.

You're welcome!

Triple Chocolate Gluten Free Flourless Brownies

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup cane sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Melt 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter in a pan. Add unsweetened chocolate and stir on low heat till melted. 

2. Turn off heat and stir in cane sugar.

3. Beat in 2 eggs and vanilla. 

4. In a small bowl mix together dry ingredients. 

5. Mix dry ingredients into pan. 

6. Grease 9x9 or 8x8 pan. Pour in batter. Top with chocolate chips.

7. Bake in oven for 25 minutes. 

8. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting into... resist the temptation!

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Cantaloupe Honey Sorbet

Ripe sweet melons are one of the best things about summertime. In recent years I started purchasing Tuscan Cantaloupe. Tuscan Cantaloupe is a sweeter variety of cantaloupe, the good news is that it is not genetically modified, they are a hybrid melon developed through conventional cross breeding to produce a particularly sweeter melon. I like the sugary almost floral fragrance of the melon.

Of course I must talk about the benefits of eating cantaloupe as well! They are vitamin rich in A, C and beta-carotene. Cantaloupe reduces stress because it is high in potassium which reduces stress and anxiety by promoting good heart health and increasing oxygen to your brain. Also, like some of my other favorite foods to talk about, cantaloupe is an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. So you can go ahead and add this melon to your list of super-foods!

Cantaloupe Honey Sorbet

• 1 average size Tuscan Cantaloupe (you can use a regular but make sure it is super ripe!)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Slice and cube melon, remove rind and seeds and place into blender with water. 

2.  Blend till melon is completely liquified. 

3. Add honey and juice of the lemon. 

4. Puree until completely combined. 

5. Taste mixture to determine sweetness, depending on the level of sweetness of the melon you may want to add more honey. 

6. Use ice cream maker to process mixture. I have a Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream Maker. 

7. Serve frozen!

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Matza/Masa Ball Soup Gluten Free Recipe

I LOVE matza ball soup but when I tried to make it with gluten free crackers they were a bit dense. The flavor wasn't bad but the texture was all off. As a vegetarian I have not had the pleasure of enjoying a bowl of matza ball soup at Canter's but my own version back in my wheat eating days was certainly delightful.

I made these dumplings with a slightly Mexican themed broth however I think that you could probably use whatever broth you like and it would definitely effect the overall tone of the dish. You can taste the corn of the masa but primarily they are like a nice light matza ball that soaks up all the heartiness of the broth in which it is served.

Matza/Masa Ball Soup

• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 cup masa flour

1. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. 

2. In a small size bowl mix the egg yolks with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and melted butter. I was staying simple with this but if you want a more matza ball style dumpling you could add some finely diced parsley too, about a tablespoon. 

3. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl till soft peaks form. 

4. Alternately fold in the egg yolk mix and the masa to the egg whites. You want to mix thoroughly but not lose the fluffiness that separately beating the egg white imparts on the dumplings. 

5. Heat your broth... I used a tomato vegetable based broth and added a little cumin and bay leaf but this works in an onion or mushroom broth, for meat eaters you could use a chicken soup base. 

6. Once the broth is at a low boil, lower heat. Shape dumplings by rolling into 1 inch balls and setting aside on a plate. 

7. Drop dumplings into heated broth and cook for about 10 minutes or until the dumplings rise to the top. 

8. Turn off heat and let sit for approximately 15 minutes. The soup should still be warm but its nice to let the dumplings really soak up some of the flavor from the broth without overcooking them. 

You can serve warm right away or reheat later, it keeps very nicely and the dumpling do not get soggy in the broth. They should be firm but tender and porous enough to really soak up the flavors from your broth. 

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Cheddar Potato Cakes

These are the best "what do I do with these leftover mash potatoes?" recipe ever!! I have made several variations on it but I think this is by far the yummiest. 

The cakes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, you can serve them with eggs on the side but I ate them for breakfast with catsup and was more than happy. 

Cheddar Potato Cakes

• 2 cups mashed potatoes
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
• 1/2 cup corn flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup corn oil

1. Mix mashed potatoes with egg, brown rice flour, corn starch, garlic powder till combined.

2. Add shredded cheddar and mix till just combined. 

3. Mix corn flour with salt in a small bowl and set aside. 

4. Heat oil in skillet.

5. Shape dough into patties and roll in corn flour so they are covered. 

6.  Fry patties in oil till golden brown on both sides. The heat needs to be high enough to crisp the patties but low enough to heat them/cook them through. 

7. Serve hot with sauce... I thought they were really good with fresh sliced avocado too. 

Feel free to add more seasoning to vary the flavor to your own preference. They would be excellent with a little paprika or rosemary added. 

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris