Biscuits. Nothing but GF biscuits...

I love biscuits. I don`t know why. I remember while on my very long road trip through the US, we saw sign after sign for restaurants that had biscuits. Going through the drive-thru of Bojangles to get my friend a coffee and I couldn`t convince her to get any biscuits. It`s my belief that my friends should eat the things that I can`t so I can live vicariously through them.

McDonald`s has had biscuits in the US for I don`t know how long now but they just brought them out in Canada so now I am bombarded by commercials for biscuits.

So of course, I`ve been craving biscuits lately. I stopped in at Bulk Barn to pick up some spices and saw that the Duinkerken foods Biscuit Mix was on sale. I`ve bought their flours before there since they come in boxes and I don`t usually buy my flours in bulk due to contamination issues. I saw a box of their biscuit mix and decided to try them.

You add 2 eggs, and a form of shortening ( I use butter ) and then milk and then after mixing and a quick knead, you can either roll it out or pat it out like I did. Since I didn`t have my rolling pin, I made square biscuits instead of round ones.

After a quick bake they are ready to eat.

They are flaky and buttery and have that proper biscuit taste and texture on that bottom crust.

Keep in mind, I`m Canadian. There`s no southern grandma hand-me-down recipe that I have to compare to. Only Pillsbury and Bisquick and well, Red Lobster.

Duinkerken Mixes and Flours can be found at Bulk Barn and they have also just expanded to Walmart across Canada.

This is their only mix that I`ve tried and I really liked it. If I want biscuits, this is the way I`m going to make them and I rarely make things from mixes.I`m going to buy a few more boxes since they are sale and try some garlic and cheese drop versions as well.

The mix is full of starches however so if you are looking for a whole-grain type of product, you won`t find it here. It`s a biscuit. It`s not supposed to be healthy.  When I want a buttery, flaky biscuit, that I am going to add more butter to, this is definitely the way to go.

Also, I did not cut one open today and brush melted butter on it and then put a piece of bacon on it for an impromptu bacon sandwich. Okay, I did.

Raclette - October Unprocessed

Raclette? What? What's that? It sounds kind of .... French.

Well it is. Raclette is a semi-firm cow's milk cheese that is really good for melting. The dish began in Switzerland where it was originally left near the fire and it would start to melt and you would scrape ( the verb racler) it onto your plate to eat with items like small potatoes, gherkins, dried meat and bread.


There are 2 types, one that holds a large round of cheese and the other with a grilling top section and then little trays that slide in underneath that broil the cheese.  I wanted the grilling type.

In the summer, I went to a garage sale and they actually had one. Completely unused and they didn't have a clue what it was for. $20 later and it was mine.

My New Grill!!!

Have you ever fondued? Well I suppose this is kind of like that. You cook your own food.
I love fondue.

Anyways, I thought this would be good as October is Unprocessed Month over at Eating Rules and this is full of pure, simple foods.

I'm a mozzarella/cheddar girl and those have to be melted for me to eat them. I don't eat other cheeses except parmesan. I was in Quebec a few weeks ago to visit a friend and they had just had raclette the night before and told me all about it.   We visited the grocery store while I was there so I could pick up some snacks and they had  a ton of sliced fondue meats and also the raclette cheese which I decided to try.

There's no real recipe here.


Cooked food: 
Small potatoes - Steamed/boiled until cooked through. Placed in a bowl lined with a teatowel to keep warm.
Focaccia - I made Annalise Roberts' focaccia. Quick and easy

Raw food:
Shrimp - peeled and tail-off
Thinly sliced chicken breast
Partly steamed broccoli - just to give it a head start
Peppers - thinly sliced
Raclette cheese and mozzarella cheese
Onions - thinly sliced red onion
Ham - thinly sliced
Garlic butter
Parmesan

That's it.

Sit down to enjoy and cook.

Getting ready to move it all to the table

 I know you'll understand but I had to taste the focaccia to see how it turned out. Then I  ummm...had to try it with some olive oil and herbs. Then some olive oil, balsamic and herbs. Then others had to try it. So pardon it's shape  please.

Chicken, broccoli, onions, peppers and cheese

Okay so the focus is off but what do you expect? I have food in front of me. This is garlic buttered focaccia with cheese melted on it.

We had lots of extra trays so we could experiment. You can cook on top of the griddle or half on top/half broiled or fully broiled.

Some raclette ideas: 
Precook some chicken, broccoli, onions and peppers.  Add garlic butter to grill top if you like
Add these items to try and add cheese and broil until melty. Melty is a new word I use in cheese cooking.
Serve with bread.
You could even do it fajita style if you have some corn tortillas.

Ham/Cheese/Focaccia

Garlic butter/focaccia/cheese


Shrimp/garlic butter/cheese - cooked until pink and cheese is melted

The true way: just cheese in the tray and then when it's melty, pour it on warm potatoes.
I did this just after I'd cooked the garlic shrimp so there was still garlic butter in my tray which drizzled on the potatoes. Oh my.
I wasn't expecting much from this. It's cheese. It's potatoes. But wow, cheese and potatoes...YUM!

A big salad started us off with my Greek Salad Dressing and I actually added a little bit ( 1/4-1/2 tsp) xanthan gum to help it stay in more of an emulsified state so it wouldn't separate as easily. Wonderful.

Simple. Pure. Good.

This is what I do on my day off...

So many ingredients for Gluten free bread

My new mixer. What should we name her?

Dan Lepard's Gluten Free White Bread  - resting

Jeanne's (@fourchickens) Sourdough

White Bread Rising!

1 batch of English Muffins in a pan

Making some English Muffins in the skillet

The sourdough WON'T stop growing!

English Muffins - millet, sorghum, brown rice, potato starch, tapioca starch

Oh, how I've missed you...

Holey Bread. So yum.

Can't wait to toast this.

Sourdough monster - I don't have a Dutch oven so I used my high sided round pan

Sourdough - delish with garlic butter

Getting ready to BBQ on the deck

The neighbour dog taking herself for a walk

Chicken Thighs, Grilled Broccoli and Cauliflower, Carrots, Onions, Peppers in Sundried Tomato Basil Pesto

Buffalo Wing and BBQ

Grilled Veggies

Sweet Honey Glazed Ham

Sometimes you want a nice meal that doesn't take a ton of bowls and pots and pans. Ham, glaze, sides. Done. This is a recipe I've used for years. It's simple and really compliments the ham.  If you aren't looking for a turkey for Thanksgiving or Easter, ham is always an excellent choice.

Sweet Honey Glazed Ham
adapted from All Recipes

• 1 (10 pound) fully-cooked, bone-in ham
• 1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 large orange, juiced and zested
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place ham in a roasting pan.
2. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, pineapple juice, honey, orange juice, orange zest, Dijon mustard, and ground cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
3. Bake ham in preheated oven uncovered for 2 hours. Remove ham from oven, and brush with glaze. Bake for an additional 30 to 45 minutes, brushing ham with glaze every 10 minutes. 

Chicken Stock, Red Onion, Green Pepper, Carrots. Toss all in rice cooker. Simple.

Steamed fresh green and yellow beans, tossed with butter and dill. 

Buns. Gorgeous. Delicious. Part of my Adopt-a GF blogger post soon.

All in all, a simple classic dinner. Tons of leftovers. Lucky me. 

This post is linked to Gluten Free Wednesdays .  



xo

Kathleen

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King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Biscuits

I've mentioned it before.... How I love to visit the King Arthur Flour blog. The pictures... droolworthy.
One day I sat and read through every post. Many of the recipes are easily transferable to Gluten Free. The English Muffin Toasting Loaf is the inspiration for this blog's name. I have also made their vanilla scones.
The latest effort? Their Ancient Grains Gluten Free Biscuits.

Although they now have a Gluten Free line of products, I can't purchase them in Canada. Using substitutions, I can certainly make do.

Their GF flour mix is essentially the same as mine with brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch. However, their Ancient Grains blend contains whole grain flours that I don't have. I do have millet and sorghum which I use often for breads as I don't like a bread made solely with the rice flour mix.


King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Biscuits.

Gluten-Free Ancient Grains Drop Biscuits

1/2 cup millet flour 1/4 cup sorghum ( I used this combination of millet and sorghum rather than 3/4 cup Ancient Grains Blend) 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 3/4 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour or brown rice flour blend* 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup maple syrup, real maple syrup preferred for best flavor 1 large egg *See recipe for this blend below. 3 1/2 ounces Ancient Grains Flour Blend 3 1/2 ounces yellow cornmeal 4 ounces King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour or 3 3/8 ounces brown rice flour blend* 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 ounces butter 6 ounces buttermilk 2 3/4 ounces maple syrup, real maple syrup preferred for best flavor 1 large egg *See recipe for this blend below. Directions 1) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line with parchment paper. 2) Whisk together the dry ingredients, then use a fork, pastry blender, or electric mixer to work in the butter, mixing until everything is crumbly with some pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.  (I grated cold butter into my dry ingredients and then mixed with a spatula) 3) Whisk together the wet ingredients and stir into dry ingredients until just combined. The dough will be very wet. 4) Drop golf-ball sized portions onto the prepared baking sheet about 2" apart. (I used 1/4 cup scoop to make slightly larger biscuits)  5) Bake the biscuits for 12 to 14 minutes for Tablespoon sized portions or 18-20 minutes for the larger sized, until they're light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm. Yield: about 24 biscuits as on KAF blog or 12 larger drop biscuits. Here's the flour mix I used: 2 part brown rice flour 2/3 part potato starch 1/3 part tapioca starch King Arthur Flour Whole Grains Biscuits You know you want some. They are a touch sweet since you have the maple syrup in these biscuits. I am wondering what they would be like with agave instead. I would love to make these again and decrease the sweetness and add garlic and cheese.  My love for garlic and cheese biscuits is a whole other story.     This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays . Check out more delicious recipes there. This post is linked also to A Gluten-Free Holiday, hosted by Amy of Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free with this week's event Thanksgiving Favorites being hosted by Shirley of Gluten-Free Easily. This post is also linked to Linda's Monthlong Biscuit Challenge over at Gluten Free Homemaker

Gluten Free Tortillas

I had a craving for fajitas today.

I hate corn tortillas. Dilemma.

I'm sure they are perfectly lovely for some people but I like my nice soft flour tortillas that don't have the texture of sawdust.

I've tried a commercially sold brown rice version but wasn't that impressed with it's thawing capabilities.

I found this recipe on the Forums. When I first found out about celiac, I pretty much lived on these kinds of forums. Living Without.... Tortilla Recipe  
It's about halfway down the page.

This one is from the folks at Living Without magazine I've changed it up a little since I'm not a bean flour girl.

Gluten Free Tortillas
Gluten-Free Flour Tortillas
MAKES 6-8 TORTILLAS.

1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup sorghum or millet
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 TBs vegetable or other shortening
3/4 to 1 cup warm water

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients, then cut in or work in the shortening using a pastry blender or two knives or your hand.
2. Add the warm water, starting with 3/4 cup and mix well.
3. Continue to add water until a soft, cohesive dough is formed.
4. Heat a comal, tapa or griddle to medium heat. Then, form a ball of dough into a flattened disk, cupping the outside edges a bit to form a round.
5. Using a bollilo or rolling pin, roll into a round disk about 1/8 inch thick and about 8 inches in diameter or to your preference.
6. Bake one at a time on a hot griddle until the surface bubbles. Turn only once, the first side should have brown flecks.
7. Bake until the second side has slightly browned - should brown in a very short time.
8. Keep warm in a tortilla keeper or wrapped in a cloth until served.
Note: Will freeze in a sealed plastic bag for up to three months.

One of the posters who has made tortillas forever uses a tea towel to push down on the bubbles that form. 


Finally. Tortillas that taste just like flour tortillas. I made one into a quesadilla right away and it was fabulous. I froze them between parchment after this.

Later, we made fajitas and the first two I heated in foil in the oven after a very quick defrost. First one was great, by the time I was ready for the second one, it had kind of hardened again. I tried to heat it back up but it didn't work.

I had to try again. I took one out of the freezer and put it in the microwave, with a little dish of water and then heated it for about 30 seconds.Worked wonderfully this time. It was pliable during filling, eating and then even a few minutes later when I checked the end of it.

Quesadillas!!!

UPDATE!!!!

I recieved a tortilla press for Christmas and I wasn't sure how that would work since they work best with corn tortillas. I searched out a few websites and saw a note saying that flour tortillas didn't work well with the tortilla press due to the gluten. Well, well, well. Not a problem here. I used a combo of guar gum and psyllium fiber husk and added a little extra brown rice flour so that it wasn't sticky and then I was able to use the press.

It worked beautifully!!

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Review

I was driving through the southern states last year and wasn't able to have a lot of the regional foods. South Carolina and its hushpuppies and honey butter were particularly tempting but I could only watch as everyone around me ate them.

I found Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix and thought I could make some hushpuppies out of that. Changed my mind and just decided to first try it as cornbread. Just add eggs, oil or butter and milk and mix it up and pour in the pan. It really doesn't get much easier. I added some Cajun spice which was nice. I think it's a little more on the sweeter side of the cornbread scale though.  

Also made some Honey Butter for the cornbread. 1/2 cup of butter with 2.5 tbsp of honey mixed in. 

Y'all need to get some.