Quinoa Corn Muffins

Ah, winter, this season keeps on giving and giving with no real end in sight. But this post is not going to start with a lament about too much snow, rather, I'd like to acknowledge our incredible neighbours. These generous souls will brave the winds and the low low temperatures and while clearing up their driveway will clear up ours as well. With their two teens in tow, B & A  have all hands on deck and generally by the time we suit up and get outside, are cheerfully piling up snow left and right. When we tell them that we can take over and finish up they often say, "No, the more the merrier." The only thing merry according to me is their wonderful spirit. So, here's to neigbours who warm your heart despite the frigid temperatures outside - To B & A and their wonderful teens. Thank you!
You remember my mushroom soup from last night? well, we had them with these gluten free quinoa muffins. Recipe courtesy of my sister and mum with alterations made when I realized I had forgotten to pick up zucchini and used cream style corn instead. I added chili flakes for heat and jalapeno pepper for the same reason. Delicious when warm, not bad cold either.

Skill Level: Easy
Makes : 18 regular muffins or 45 mini muffins

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup quinoa cooked with 1 3/4 cups of water or chicken brothe)
• 3 eggs
• 1 can 380g cream style corn or 1 cup zucchini grated (see note above)
  
• 1 cup shredded mozarella or cheddar cheese
• 3 Tbsp grated parmesan
• 3/4 cup ham diced
• 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper finely chopped

METHOD: 

1. Cook quinoa and set aside to cool

2. Preheat oven to 350 degres F and line muffin pans with paper or silicon cups

3. In a large bowl add all the ingredient except the quinoa, mix well and then add quinoa and combine until well mixed

4. Using an icecream scoop, fill the mixture into the prepared muffin trays. I had enough for one large tray of 12 and a smaller tray with 6 muffins

5. Bake for approximately 20 - 22 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Turn off the oven and leave the muffins for an additional 5 minutes. A toopick inserted into it should come out clean. 

6. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Eat while warm. 

Flourless Snow Drops

In my pursuit of gluten free cookies, I have been reading a lot of recipes and happened to come across this recipe card from CHATELAINE magazine. Not only is it easy to make, but tastes great and with all the chocolate and cocoa involved, you really do not notice the lack of flour. Like the flourless chocolate cake that I posted earlier, these are quite dense and heavy, which is great because you cannot eat too many of them. I used unsweetened Baker's Chocolate because I wanted something not overly sweet. I am notorious for reducing sugar in my baking recipes (I figure it will ease the guilt and be kinder on the waistline). Not having made anything flourless before, I did not want to mess with the sugar in case its functionality impacted the cookie texture. I made small "toonie" sized cookies that were soft and chewy. I powdered whole unblanched almonds in a food processor, although it was not very fine, I think leaving it a coarse like breadcrumbs would enhance the texture.
I hope to post more gluten free offerings in the coming weeks. I can hear my friend G asking for egg free recipes so look out for that as well.
Stay warm and bake lots, nothing quite like holiday baking and eating.

Skill Level: Easy 

Serves: 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1  egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 112 g unsweetened dark chocolate, (4 squares) chopped, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup  icing sugar

METHOD: 

1. Whisk almonds with cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

2.  Beat butter with brown sugar in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, until light and fluffy, about 3 min.

3.  Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in cooled chocolate. Fold in almond mixture until combined. 

4. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm enough to roll, about 10 min.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

6. Put the icing sugar and granulated sugar in two separate bowls

7. Make small balls with the dough, roll first in the granulated sugar and then in the icing sugar

8. Bake in the middle and bottom racks for 12 -14 minutes in total

9. Rotate and switch sheets halfway through until cookies crack

10.Remove and allow to cool

11. Cookies will look undercoked but will continue to bake as they sit

12. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container for a week

13. Can be frozen for up to a month

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Fabulous Flourless Chocolate Cake

This past weekend, Ju had a few friends over at their place for a holiday get together and I was in charge of dessert. It proved to be the perfect opportunity to try out some gluten free/no flour recipes. I made a cake and some cookies, the cake made it to the party, the cookies were consumed too quickly (but not before I took pictures, so I will be posting the recipe). Both used no flour, lots of chocolate and cocoa and were delicious. The Flourless cake is thanks to the recipe on www.epicurious.com; it is heavy, dense, almost fudge like in texture and is a real treat for chocoholics. I am sure it will be an equal success among those who are avoiding gluten and for those with no gluten issues. This cake is easy to make with only 5 ingredients; it is rather heavy so a 9" cake serves 12 people. You can get creative with the topping - I macerated very ripe raspberries with some sugar and lime juice, then used a potato masher to make a thick pulp which I poured on top of the cake. I wanted to strain it and make a coulis but only had a half pint of berries on hand so that is an option for you folks reading this. 
One change I made from their recipe, was using a 9" springform pan as I do not have an 8". I doubled the recipe and it made 4 ramekins in addition to the 9" pan. Perfect if you want to serve individual cakes for a small group.
This one is for Mitra, who had the best reaction to my foray into flourlessness :) Enjoy.

Skill Level: Medium

Serves: 12 - 14

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate (do not use unsweetened)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

Raspberry topping:

• 1/2 pint (one clam shell) raspberries
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• juice of 1/2 a lime

METHOD: 

1. Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Butter the sides of a 9" round baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside
3. Break chocolate into small pieces. Place a glass bowl (or use a double boiler) over a pot of simmering water on the stove. Reduce heat to medium and add chocolate and butter. Stir until most of it has melted, then remove from heat and continue to stir until all of it is melted 
4. Add sugar and whisk. Then add eggs and mix well
5. Sift the cocoa powder over the chocolate mixture and mix until well combined
6. Pour the batter (it is quite thick) into the cake tin and give it a good thump on the counter so as to have a batter without any air pockets
7. Bake for 25 minutes, this does not rise because there is no baking powder, it will form a thin crust on top
8. Macerate the fruit with sugar and lime juice, allow it to sit for 10 minutes. Mash the fruit with a fork and pour it on top of the cake; it will not soak through even if you top the cake  up to 4 hours before serving
9. Cake keeps well for 1 week in an airtight container
   

Minty Lemony Beany Soup

Cold days are the perfect excuse to make a big pot of hearty soup. My love for lentils and legumes is certainly no secret. Beans and lentils are fibre rich, a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals and can be added to grains, soups and salads. There are so many shapes sizes and colours to choose from that you have endless options with this inexpensive, healthy ingredient. 
Several years ago, a classmate from Iran made me a delicious soup called Ash with several kinds of beans and grains garnished with crispy fried onions and garlic. While my inspiration is certanly from that delicious dish I had 20 years ago, my version transpired because I had leftover boiled chickpeas and wanted to use it up. This is a vegetarian dish that is quite filling and definitely tastes better the next day.

Skill Level: Medium 

Serves: 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups cooked chick peas (if using canned chickpeas - 2 x 454 ml)
• 2 cups cooked red kidney or fava beans (if using canned - 1 x 454 ml)
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 cups red lentils (masoor) 
• 2 large red onions sliced
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• rind and juice of 1/2 a large lemon
• 3 Tbsp dried mint
• 4 cups of fresh chopped spinach 
• 7 cups vegetable stock

METHOD: 

1. In a large pan on medium heat, add oil and saute onions and garlic until transparent
2. Add all spice, cumin, chili flakes, turmeric and chili powders, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper and stir into the onion garlic mixture
3. Add chickpeas, fava beans and red lentils and stir, then add vegetable stock
4. Check seasoning, reduce heat, grate lemon rind and add juice of 1/2 lemon into the pan
5. Cover and cook for 1/2 an hour until red lentils are cooked (the chickpeas and beans are already cooked and will get softer but should still retain its shape
6. Add spinach and cook until just wilted, serve hot
7. If serving the following day, you may need to add more water as the beans will have absorbed some liquid and the consistency will be quite thick

Truffles

Around this time of the year, I am always on the lookout for recipes for my annual Christmas bake exchange. If the recipe has no added sugar, no egg or flour, then it covers most dietary restrictions in my circle of friends. This recipe I found on a blog called 
"An edible mosaic" is a winner. I used a combination of sunflower and pumpkin seeds simply because I did not have enough of the latter, otherwise made no substitutions It is moist and delicious and can be rolled in cocoa, nuts or seeds to have a variety of different looks with one recipe. Thank you to Faith Gorsky Safarini for this one.This recipe is a keeper; in fact, my blog partner's little guy loved it too, so it's thumb's up from a little person in addition to all the adults who tried it. Enjoy!

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 pitted chopped Medjool dates (approx 4 oz)
• 4 Tbsp roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
• 2 T pumpkin puree ( canned is fine, do not use pumpkin pie filling) 
• 1 T cocoa powder
• 1 T ground flax seeds
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t coconut oil melted
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg
• 1/8 t ground ginger
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch ground cloves

TOPPING IDEAS: 

Desiccated coconut, cocoa powder, sesame seeds, crushed nuts

METHOD: 

1. Pulse together all ingredients (except toppings) in a food processor until it comes together to form a ball.
2. Scoop the dough into 1 tablespoon-sized truffles, roll into balls, and then coat in any topping(s) you like.
3. Store the truffles in an airtight container up to 2 weeks in the fridge.