Gluten and Dairy Free

Chunky Tapenade (very good)

(p 158 Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef)

1 cup pitted nicoise olives

1 cup pitted picholine olives

2 oil-packed anchovy fillets

1 teaspoon thinly sliced garlic

½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon capers

2 large basil leaves

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (with a peppery kick)

soda water, as needed

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Chopping the olives: Roughly chop a quarter of the olives. Set aside.

Pureeing the tapenade: Place the unchopped olives in a food processor. Toss in the anchovies, garlic, rosemary, thyme, capers, and basil. Whirl up the ingredients into a paste. With the machine still running, slowly drizzle in the oil until the tapenade has become a medium-thick paste. If the tapenade is too thick for your taste, you can thin it out with soda water.

Finishing the tapenade: Scoop the tapenade from the food processor. Fold in the roughly chopped olives. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Taste and season if necessary with salt and pepper.

Crackers (not very good at all)

(p. 156 Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef)

These didn't work so well, but it was interesting to try.

1 cup (4.4 oz) cornstarch

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (4.4 oz) corn flour

¾ cup (4.4 oz) potato starch

¾ cup (4.4 oz) sweet rice flour

1 tablespoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon guar gum

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 ¾ cups (13.2 oz) warm water, about 110 F

¼ cup (1.75 oz) extra-virgin olive oil

4 teaspoons (.5 oz) active dry yeast

gluten-free cornmeal for sprinkling on pan

olive oil, for brushing

fresh rosemary (optional)

coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper (optional)

Combining the dry ingredients: Sift the cornstarch, corn flour, potato starch, and sweet rice flours into a large bowl. Toss in the xanthan gum, guar gum, and salt. Sift the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixture.

Activating the yeast: Put the warm water, olive oil, and yeast into a small bowl. Stir gently. Let sit for a minute.

Making the dough: Pour the yeasty water into the dry ingredients. With the mixer on medium, whirl for a few minutes, until the dough comes together and feels soft and pliable. Set the dough aside in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour.

Preparing to bake: Preheat the oven to 450. If you have a pizza stone, make sure it is in the oven. If not, sprinkle a pizza tray or baking sheet with cornmeal.

Rolling out the dough: Grab ½ of the dough and place it between 2 piece of parchment paper. Through the paper, roll out the dough as thin as you can make it. Gluten-free dough does not have the elasticity of regular dough, but if you go slowly you can roll it out pretty thin.

Baking the dough: Transfer the dough to the pizza stone or prepared pizza tray. Brush the top with olive oil and press fresh rosemary, sea salt, and cracked pepper lightly into the top. Bake until the dough has crisped up and browned at the edges, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the crackers to a cooling rack and allow them to cool to room temperature.

Eating the crackers: Break the crackers into shards with your hands, rough-hewn. Bite down and enjoy.

Seared Shrimp with Garlic-Almond Sauce (killer good! I love this stuff)

(p. 195 Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef)

This was amazing!

1 cup roasted Marcona almonds

3 cloves garlic

1 ½ teaspoons each kosher salt and cracked black pepper

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or less

soda water, as needed

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil

16 large shrimp (16-20 count), peeled and deveined, tails on

Pureeing the sauce: Put the almonds, garlic, and ½ teaspoon each of the salt and pepper into a food processor. Whirl them up until a paste is formed. With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in just as much olive oil that's needed just until a thick sauce is formed (usually 1 cup is too much). If the sauce feels too thick, add soda water until the sauce has reached the consistency you desire.

Searing the shrimp: Set a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the grapeseed oil. Season the shrimp with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan and sear on one side for about 1 minute. Turn them over and sear the other side for 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat.

To serve, place some of the almond sauce in the middle of each plate and surround the sauce with the seared shrimp.

Crisp Pork Belly with Wild Rice, Cabbage, Sour Cherries, and Honey-Sage Gastrique (delicious, but probably more trouble than it was worth and we didn't get the cabbage - seemed useless)

(pp. 78-79 Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef)

½ cup sugar

1 cup sherry vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons chiffonade fresh sage

kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Wild Rice

2 cups wild rice

2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

3 ½ cups chicken stock

kosher salt and black pepper

Pork Belly

4 pieces fresh pork belly, about 6 ounces each

kosher salt and cracked black pepper

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 carrot, peeled and large diced

½ medium yellow onion peeled and large diced

1 stalk celery, large diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

1 medium sprig fresh rosemary

3 sprigs fresh sage

1 teaspoon tomato paste

3 cups thinly sliced savoy cabbage (we thought this was unnecessary)

¼ cup dried sour cherries

Making the gastrique: Put the sugar and ½ cup water in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture becomes caramel in color, 5 to 10 minutes - do not overstir or it will seize up. Pull the pan off the head and slowly pour in the vinegar, stirring gently. Watch the mixture closely, because it will want to boil over; don’t let it. Once the vinegar is incorporated into the caramel, spoon in the honey and 1 tablespoon of the sage. Set the pan over medium heat and cook until the liquid begins to thicken. When it’s close to the consistency of molasses, remove the pan from the heat.

Taste the gastrique. Season it with salt and pepper, if necessary. Strain the gastrique, which should be lovely and thick. Set it aside for later use.

Making the wild rice: Rinse the rice under water for 15 minutes, which will reduce the starchiness.

Sauteing the shallots: Set a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the are softened and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Toss in the thyme and cook until it is fragrant, about 1 minute more.

Cooking the rice: Scoop the rice into the saucepan and stir to coat. Pour in enough chicken stock to cover by 1 inch. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Strain the rice from the liquid. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary. set the rice aside.

Preparing to cook the pork belly: If you bough frozen pork belly, make sure it is thoroughly thawed and season with salt and pepper. Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan on high heat. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Sauteing the vegetables: Set a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Pour in 2 tablespoons of oil, then put in the carrot, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are golden brown and softened, about 5 minutes. Toss in the rosemary and sage and cook until they are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the vegetables.

Braising the bellies: Transfer the vegetables and pork belly pieces to a baking dish and pour the chicken stock on top. Cover with aluminum foil. Transfer to the oven and braise the pork belly pieces until you can take tongs to the side of one of the pork belly pieces and squeeze easily with little resistance, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Searing the bellies: Remove the bellies from the baking dish, reserving the stock, and allow them to cool a bit. Pat dry the skin side of the bellies. Set a large oven-safe saute pan over medium-high heat. Pour in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Put the bellies, skin side down, into the hot oil. Sear them until the bottom has crisped to a golden brown, then turn the bellies over. Drain off the fat. Add 1 cup of the reserved chicken stock, just enough for a thin layer of liquid at the bottom of the pan. Place the belly pieces in the oven until they are soft and juicy, 5 to 10 minutes.

Heating the rice: Set a large saute pan over high heat. Add the wild rice and ½ cup of water. As the rice is reheating, toss in the savoy cabbage and drop in the dried sour cherries. Taste the rice and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

To serve, mound the rice in the center of each of 4 plates and drizzle on the gastrique. Divide the remaining chiffonade sage among the 4 plates. Place the belly piece on to

Pear Crisp (I seem to remember this was OK, but nothing I'd make again)

(p. 75 The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook)

Filling

½ cup apple juice

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

5 medium pears, peeled, cored, and sliced ¼ inch thick

Topping

2 cups blanched almond flour

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ cup grapeseed oil

¼ cup agave nectar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Set aside an 8-inch square baking dish.

To make the filling, whisk together the apple juice, lemon juice, arrowroot powder, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Place the pears in a bowl, toss with the apple juice mixture, then transfer to the baking dish.

To make the topping, combine the almond flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture, until coarsely blended and crumbly.

Sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until the top of the crisp is golden brown and the juices are bubbling. Let the crisp cool for 30 minutes, then serve warm.