Berry Stew

I made this tonight for the second time.  And got raves from my children.  It is simple yet delicious.  I hope you enjoy.
    
Berry Stew
Serving Size: 8  

3 pounds  stew meat -- venison,buffalo, beef or chicken
3 tablespoons Oil
6 cups  Homemade Broth --  whatever you have on hand
2  cups  blackberries -- fresh or frozen - use what you have, a mix, raspberries or blackberries will work fine.
1 tablespoon  agave nectar -- or honey
2 Dashs Salt -- to taste
1 cup  blackberry, blueberry or pear juice or if you can tolerate it Blackberry Merlot or other wine is good.

In a large pot, brown stew meat in oil.  Add the blackberries and stock.   Stir in the agave nectar and juice and simmer the meat, covered, until it is very tender, about 1 hour.  If the berries are too tart add more agave nectar to taste.  Thicken sauce by shaking in a jar 1/3 cup gluten free flour and 1 cup distilled water.  Add salt to taste and serve in bowls over rice or gluten free pasta.  This recipe serves 8 to 10.


Per Serving: 328 Calories; 21g Fat (59.8% calories from fat); 26g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 85mg Cholesterol; 239mg Sodium.

Turkey or Chicken Salad

With thanksgiving being this week I decided to post a recipe using those wonderful turkey leftovers.  I created this recipe a while ago to help increase my vegetable intake. I hope you enjoy.

Erika's Chicken Salad

1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken or turkey, shredded
4 Carrots -- peeled and shredded
1/2  Zucchini -- shredded (small to med)
2 Stalks  Celery -- shredded
1 Gala, Fuji or Pink Lady Apple -- shredded
4 Cloves  Roasted Garlic -- mushed into paste with fork
1 Vinegar Free Pickles -- minced
2 Green Onions -- sliced finely
1 Handful  Fresh Parsley -- finely chopped, optional
1 Dash Kosher salt
1/4 to 1/2 Cup  Homemade Vinegar Free Mayonnaise (see recipe)

You can optionally add one of the following if desired: Unsulfured Raisins if Tolerable, Chopped Artichokes or Avocado,  or chopped Pumpkin Seeds

Season to Taste if Desired

Mix all together and serve on a bed of lettuce or with GF crackers.


Per Serving: 172 Calories; 11g Fat (56.2% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 35mg Cholesterol; 195mg Sodium.

No Tomato Sauce and Almost No Tomato Sauce

Well, our home school is in full swing and it has been hard for me to find time to post.  But here is a recipe requested by one of my readers and one that I've been meaning to post since September. The original recipe I actually found on another IC site and I started experimenting and modifying it to my own tastes.  I've changed it to make it easier to cook as well as put in a few of my own additions.
                  
No tomato Sauce

6 carrots -- peeled and chopped
1 beet -- peeled and chopped
1/2 cup  leek -- cleaned and chopped
1 stalk  celery -- sliced
1 bay leaf -- whole
1/2 Teaspoon Kosher salt
3 cloves  garlic -- or 6 to 8 roasted garlic (I prefer roasted)
1 cup  mushrooms -- about 31/2 oz of mushrooms or more to taste
1 Tablespoon  Fresh Basil -- or 1 tsp. dried
1 Tablespoon  Fresh Oregano -- or 1 tsp dried.
1/4 Cup  Fresh Parsley
1 1/2 cups  Distilled Water
1 or 2 roasted red peppers, optional
1 tsp. agave nectar
2 tsp. olive oil
                      
Place all ingredients of the basic sauce in a pot except mushrooms,fresh herbs, agave and oil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.  Add mushrooms and herbs after about 20 minutes and cook until mushrooms are tender, about 10 to15 minutes.  Then puree everything in a blender or food processor. Add water or vegetable broth, if needed, until mixture has tomato sauce texture. Return to pot, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors. Season with, agave nectar and/or olive oil if desired.

Sloppy Joe Sauce - I like to add more roasted peppers or even unroasted bell peppers to the pot.

Almost no tomato sauce:  If you can tolerate low acid tomatoes, one may be added to the sauce for additional flavor.

Per Serving: 65 Calories; 2g Fat (22.6% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 527mg Sodium.



                  

Giant Cream Puff or Carob Éclair Ring

Okay, this is one of my all time favorite desserts but I find my self rarely making it anymore, especially since going gluten free and being diagnosed with IC.  I decided to take a chance though and try to make a puff pastry dough that would work and revamp the filling ingredients to make it IC friendly too.  My first attempt was somewhat a failure, because the nature of GF flours are softer than non GF flours, my cream puff was rather flat and shapeless.  For my second attempt, I added a little Xanthan gum and placed the dough in a bunt cake pan.  It came out beautiful!  I proudly brought my success to the Labor Day gathering at a friends house.  Everyone was quite thrilled and no one knew it was IC safe and Gluten Free.

Éclair ring or Cream puff IC GF

Puff Pastry:
1 cup  distilled water
1/2 cup  unsalted butter
1 cup  all purpose GF flour mix "white" (not bread mix - see pantry staples)
1/4 teaspoon Xanthan gum
4 eggs -- I use free range

Éclair Filling:
1/2 pint  whipping cream -- some Land O Lakes or Kemps Old Fashioned usually have IC safe ingredients - omit if whipping cream is a trigger for you.
2 tablespoons  organic sugar
1 box  Vanilla cooked pudding and pie filling mix (Dr. Oetker) -- 8 serving size (it is gluten free, I checked with the company) use two boxes if omitting whipping cream.
2 cups  whole additive free milk (Cedar Summit Farm or Raw) -- or use a milk that is safest for you (increase to 4 cups if omitting whipping cream)
1 teaspoon  vanilla extract

Éclair Carob Topping:
3/4  cup  carob powder
1/2  cup  distilled water -- boiling
3 tablespoons  agave nectar (blue) -- honey or maple syrup
3 tablespoons  butter -- softened
1 teaspoon  vanilla extract

Cream Puff Filling:
1 1/2  pints  heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons  organic sugar -- or more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons  vanilla

Grease and flour a bunt cake pan.

Prepare puff pastry: In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring 1 cup water and butter to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to low and stir in flour and xanthan gum until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and beat in eggs, one at a time beating for 1 min. after each addition. Spoon dough evenly into bunt cake pan. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and dry. Remove from oven.  Carefully remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack away from any drafts. Slice ring in half, cross-wise forming two complete rings. Place top carefully aside.  Now remove any gooey dough from the inside of the bottom and top halves.  Sometimes you will pull out quite a bit.  Just toss it away and what you have left should be a lightly crispy shell.

Eclair Filling: Follow the directions for the pudding on the box.  After it is done cooking, place in a container with a lid and refrigerate until cool.   Meanwhile, whip whipping cream with 2 Tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp vanilla, until hard peak stage is reached.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  Note: if heavy cream is a trigger for you, you can omit this step.  In place of whipped cream use another prepared box of pudding mix.

Éclair topping: Place carob into a small saucepan.Slowly pour in boiling water while whisking to blend. Continue to whisk over low heat. Add agave and blend. Add butter and blend. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.  After filling the eclair ring, replace top half carefully.  drizzle with the carob glaze and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For Cream Puff filling:  Whip whipping cream with sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form.  Fill ring with cream and replace top half.  Dust lightly with powdered sugar or carob powder.  Chill until ready to serve.

Éclair Nutrition Per Serving: 346 Calories; 22g Fat (56.3% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 132mg Cholesterol; 102mg Sodium.

Cream Puff Per Serving: 357 Calories; 32g Fat (79.1% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 173mg Cholesterol; 51mg Sodium.

Roasted Pepper and Garlic Salad Dressing

Roasted Pepper and Garlic Salad Dressing

Recipe By: Erika Harms
Serving Size  : 8
1 bell pepper, any color -- roasted in oven (see recipe)
1/4 cup  fresh parsley -- or cilantro
1/4 cup  olive oil -- or distilled water if watching calories
1/4 cup  pear juice -- Ceres has no additives
1/4 teaspoon  lime extract -- or more to taste
3 cloves  roasted garlic -- to 4*
1 teaspoon  agave nectar (blue) -- or honey
1 dash  peppy (ground papaya seeds) -- optional

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth.  Store in refrigerator until ready to use.  Shake before using.

*Note:  To roast garlic, cut the top off of 1 head and drizzle with a little oil.  Wrap in foil and bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes until garlic is soft.  When cool to the touch, squeeze the head from the bottom and pop out all the garlic cloves.  This makes the garlic very mild and delicious and it is not as spicy as raw garlic and therefore better for people with IC. The unused garlic can be stored in the fridge for a couple weeks.  Place them in a container and drizzle them with oil.  Cover and refrigerate.

Per Serving: 73 Calories; 7g Fat (81.9% calories from fat); trace Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 2mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat.

Honeyblue Salad

This is one of my most favorite fruit salads and gives a stunning presentation with the contrast in colors.  You can choose one of two dressings for it, the alternate being posted at the bottom.  It can also be made festive for Independance Day by adding watermelon to the mix.

Honeyblue Salad
Serving Size: 8

1/2 tablespoon  honey, maple syrup or agave nectar
1/4 Teaspoon  Lime or Lemon Extract*
1/2 teaspoon  grated lime peel, optional
1/4 Cup  Pear Juice (Ceres has not additives)
2 cups  Fresh Blueberries
2 Cups  Honeydew Melon -- diced small (blueberry size chunks) or watermelon.

In a large bowl combine honey, lime extract, pear juice, and lime peel until well blended.  Add blueberries and honeydew.  Toss to coat.

Alternate dressing: 4oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup pear juice, 2 tablespoons honey, agave nectar or maple syrup, 1/4 Teaspoon Lime Extract or to taste.  Blend together in blender or food processor and toss with fruit.  This dressing also makes a great fruit dip.

Festive Honeyblue Salad:  For 4th of July use 1 1/2 cups blueberries, 1 1/2 cups chunked honeydew, and 1 1/2 cups chunked watermelon.  Toss with dressing.

*Lime Extract can be hard to find but when purchased I find myself using this more than any other extract.  1/4 tsp may seem like a little, but extracts have a strong flavor and you don't want it to over power the fruit.  If you are having trouble locating Lime Extract, it can be purchased on Amazon.com.

Per Serving: 43 Calories; trace Fat (3.4% calories from fat); trace Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 7mg Sodium.
               

Roasted Bell Peppers & Mock Chili Powder

Oh the tantalizing taste of roasted peppers! They are so yummy and wonderful to use in recipes in place of regular bell peppers. I am working on Salad dressings as promised and will hopefully post some this week.  In the meantime here is how to make your own roasted peppers and mock Chili powder.  I like to use this chili powder in my salad dressings.  It is time consuming to make but if you make it in bulk and store it in an airtight container you may only need to do this once or twice a year and I promise you it is definitely worth the work.

Roasted Bell Peppers & Chili Powder
Recipe By: Erika Harms

6 bell pepper, any color - I like to use red or orange if I'm making a mock Chili Powder but green ones work great too.

When roasting peppers, you should first wash the peppers and make sure all labels are scraped off.  Then cut each pepper in half and scrape out the seeds.



Place cut side down on a Jelly Roll Pan (cookie sheet with sides).  Place under the broiler in your oven and cook until skin on peppers is blackened and bubbles up.






Remove from the oven and cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil or I just place another cookie sheet over the top of the peppers.  The steam from the peppers will help make peeling off the skin easier.  Let them sit until they are cool enough to touch.






Peel off the blackened skins.  You may not be able to get all the skin off and this is okay.








Option 1: Cover them in oil, adding some garlic slivers, if desired, and store in the refrigerator for one to two weeks.  The oil from this can also be used to flavor salad dressings or other recipes.






Option 2:  Mock Chili Powder - Cut the peppers into slices as best you can.  Place the peppers on a aluminum foil lined cookie sheet spreading them out evenly with space in between each slice.  Bake in a 200 degree oven until peppers are completely dry.  They will have a leathery texture.  You can also dry them out in a food dehydrator if you have one.  Once the peppers are dry and cool, grind them in a spice grinder or coffee grinder until it is a powder.  Store in an airtight container.  Powder will clump and this is normal.  Just use a utensil to break it up before using in recipes. enjoy.