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Wow, it's hard to believe another year is over. Where did it go? I didn't even come close to accomplishing everything I wanted to. Case in point: the Great Gluten-Free Recipe Challenge of 2010 is way behind. I enjoyed doing it, though, so I'm going to continue it into 2011. I should be able to finish it over the next year. Maybe...
Here's one last recipe before I shut off the computer for the night (and year). We have been experimenting with making our own pasta, and I think we've got a good recipe going. Homemade pasta is a very personal thing, however, and depending on how you approach this, you may need to make some adjustments to your recipe, based on humidity, your method of forming pasta, moon phase, and whether (or not) Venus is aligned with Mars. But we're finding it to be worthwhile to experiment with this, and we're getting some good results. You should taste the mac & cheese we made with this last batch - my mouth is watering at the thought of it!
Gluten-Free Homemade Pasta
Dry Ingredients
2 cups gluten-free rice flour blend (2 parts rice flour to 1 part starch)
1/2 cup corn starch
1 tsp salt
2 tsp xanthan gum
If you are using a pasta maker that mixes dough, put the dry ingredients into it. We have a manual pasta extruder, so we assembled the dry ingredients in the bowl of our stand mixer.
Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
1Tbsp oil
Mix the wet ingredients together and add to the dry ingredients. If you are using a pasta maker, follow the manufacturer's directions; otherwise, turn on your mixer and dribble water in until it is the right consistency. You may have to play with this. We found that anywhere from pea-sized pieces to just starting to clump worked well. Make sure you don't add too much water - this should be dry.
Follow the instructions of your pasta extruder, or roll as thin as possible on a lightly floured surface and cut noodles with a sharp knife. Cook in boiling, salted water until done (this will happen sooner than you think). Or you can freeze your uncooked pasta for later use.
The photo above is of the macaroni we made the other night, prior to cooking. We actually overcooked our macaroni a bit, but it held up well and made some excellent mac & cheese. And the leftovers have been great!
If you are looking for a good source for gluten-free and kosher food, I just heard about the Gluten Free Shoppe in Brooklyn.
Here's the info:
Steven & Jerome
The Gluten Free Shoppe
3918 - 16 avenue.
Brooklyn N.Y. 11218
718-633-3200
thegfshoppe@yahoo.com
"where G.F. is not an afterthought - it's our entire focus"
My beloved gave me a subscription to Running Times for my birthday this year, and in the December issue was an article about elite runner Amy Begley, who has celiac disease and is one of the top female runners in the world. Interesting, and a more than a little inspiring (though I'll never run anywhere near that fast, gluten free or not!).
Here's the article.
I'm still looking for pre and post running fuels. Before taking up long distance running, I never realized just how important it was to eat both before and after a workout. (Especially after a workout. We're talking "teenage boy hungry" here!) And proper fueling is easier when you have something tasty to grab.
The recipe I based these on is low carb, but my adaptations are a little higher in carbs. Partly because I was using what I have on hand, I wanted something a smidge sweeter, and I'm really just not that concerned with counting carbs. I could probably stand to lower daily carb count, considering I do love me some sugar. But that's not my immediate concern today. Here's the original low carb energy bar recipe, if that's the direction in which you want to go.
Gluten-Free No Bake Energy Bars
1/4 Cup sunflower seed butter
1/4 Cup coconut oil
1/2 Cup almonds (whole, chopped, or slivered)
1/2 Cup pecans
1/2 Cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened)
1/4 Cup sunflower seeds
1/2 Cup raisins (or other dried fruit in raisin sized chunks)
1-2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
Combine the sunflower seed butter and coconut oil, and heat in the microwave until all melty and smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the honey, vanilla and salt, stir, and set aside.
On the stovetop in a skillet or in an oven on a cookie sheet, toast the pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds and coconut until the coconut is golden brown, stirring often. I like to do this on the stovetop because I can keep a closer eye on it and am less likely to burn them. I also added the coconut after I had toasted the nuts a bit, so it wouldn't burn. If you are using pre-toasted pecans, almonds or sunflower seeds, you can skip this step for that item.
Toss the toasted nuts and coconut into a food processor and whirl until they are finely chopped and just starting to clump.
Add the oil and sunbutter mixture to the food processor and pulse until well mixed. Add the raisins, and stir just until blended. You can pulse in the food processor 2 or 3 times to accomplish this if you don't mind your raisins getting a little mangled, otherwise use a spoon to keep them intact.
Press the mixture into a loaf pan lined with wax paper (for easy clean-up). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Cut into 6 or 12 bars. These freeze well.
These bars will not be brittle and will require refrigeration to hold their shape. Don't be fooled by the tiny amount of honey - they are surprisingly sweet.
They are great eaten out of the fridge, but probably won't survive well in your pockets on a long run or bike ride. If you try it, make sure you wrap them well, or you'll have a mess on your hands (and elsewhere). I personally don't like to eat anything solid during my long runs, though, so these work out fine for me. I just grab one out of the fridge and scarf it down before heading out the door, and I'm good to go.
