Gluten-free Brownies

just as yummy-chewy-good as the Brownies Cockaigne in Joy of Cooking, but without the gluten!

Gluten-Free Brownies

1 cup GF flour mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp Egg Replacer
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened dark chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.
In a measuring cup, mix the GF flour, xanthan gum and egg replacer.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with the chocolate over very low heat. Add the sugar and beat. Add the eggs one by one, beating. Add vanilla. Stir in the flour & nuts.
Spoon into prepared pan and bake 30-40 minutes.
Be careful not to over-bake. cool & cut into square.

Prawn Boil Seasoning

It's prawn season on the west coast of British Columbia, and thanks to my daughter Caty for bringing us our first feed of the season! We had to come up with a recipe that was full of fantastic flavour .... and this is it!

1/4 cup pickling spices
2 Tbsp mustard seeds
2 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
2 Tbsp hot red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp celery seeds
1/4 cup sea salt
 2 tsp ground ginger
 2 tsp dried oregano
 2 tsp dried lettuce leaves
5 bay leaves

Dry saute in a cast iron or non-teflon pan over medium heat: pickling spices, mustard seeds, peppercorns, pepper flakes and celery seeds until they start to brown and some of the seeds just start to pop. Grind with a mortar & pestle until broken up. Pour into blender or food processor. Add salt, ginger, oregano, dried celery leaves and bay leaves and process until a course grit. Store in a glass jar in a cool dark spot.

To cook prawns add 1/4 cup of spice to 2 gallons boiling water and 1/2 cup vinegar. Add prawns. Boil just until cooked. Depending upon the size of the shrimp or prawns it can be as little as a couple of minutes, so pay attention. Remove the seafood from the liquid with a slotted spoon and either serve right away or chill quickly.
This seasoning mix can be used for crab or lobster as well.

Pumpkin pie

one of the hardest things to master in gluten-free baking is a good pie crust, but I think we may finally have it down! (and by we... I really mean Will! He's the master pie maker) Add Will's mother's recipe for pumpkin pie filling, adjusted to be gluten-free, and we are laughing!

The trick is to roll the pastry out between two sheets of plastic wrap. Otherwise, you cannot keep it from sticking to the rolling pin.

2 1/2 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cups tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1 Tbsp xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 lb lard
1/4 lb butter
1 egg , stirred slightly
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
nearly 1 cup water

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the lard and butter with a pastry blender  until thoroughly mixed and resembles fine oatmeal.
In a measuring cup, mix the egg and vinegar. Add enough icy cold water to make one cup.
Slowly stir the liquid into the flour mixture, adding just enough to make the dough cling together. stir until completely mixed. separate into 6 balls, cover with saran wrap,  and refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Let rest 10 minutes at room temperature before forming into crusts.

PUMPKIN PIE TIME!

Bake or steam your pie pumpkin until soft. Scoop out the pumpkin and mash very well.

Mix together the dry ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp flour (I use GF flours)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves

in another bowl blend together:

3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed cooked pumpkin
1 cup light cream (I use soy milk)

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into a prepared large pie crust. Start at 450F for 10 minutes to prevent a soggy crust, and then reduce the temp to 400 for 35 - 40 minutes.

PUMPKIN CUSTARD

When we don't have the where-with-all to create the gluten-free pie crusts, I cook a whole pumpkin, so about 4 times this recipe, and pour it into TWO large glass cooking trays and cook until a knife comes out clean in the centre at 400F, about 40 minutes or more.

enjoy

Tangy Blackberry Ribs

this is another recipe from our Mortgage-Burning Musical Mardi Gras Masquerade Madness party.... sorry, no photos of ribs! there were none left

2-3 pork back rib slabs
3 garlic cloves, slivered
water to cover
Rub:
4 Tbsp chili powder
3-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
Sauce:
3-4 cups blackberries (fresh or defrosted)
1 cup ketchup (I used my home-made green ketchup)
1/2 cup spicy jam (I used my ginger-pear jam, but could use 1/2 cup jelly & 3-4 Tbsp grated ginger)
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp hot pepper sauce

Put the ribs & slivered garlic cloves into a very large pot & cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer 1/2 hour. Lay the ribs out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

In a blender or food processor, mash the garlic cloves with chili powder & salt. Rub into the ribs and refrigerate a few hours or over-night.

Make the blackberry sauce by putting the berries through a sieve to take out the seeds. Put into a small saucepan and add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer down to about half it's volume.

Preheat oven to 450F. Place the tray of rib slabs in the oven for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F. Cook 20 minutes. Coat the ribs with about half the blackberry sauce and continue to cook for 10 -15 minutes or until they are quite sticky & dark. but before they burn!

Cut into individual ribs and serve on a platter with the rest of the blackberry sauce for dipping!