Tag Archives: Earth Balance

Funeral Potatoes, DF/GF/EF


How’s that for a cheery title?  I don’t know who came up with the name for this recipe, but it largely has to do with the culture of the intermountain west I imagine.  Whenever there is a funeral, church members help prepare a large meal for the family and friends of the person that has passed away.  Funeral potatoes were and still are a required side dish.  

We would have this casserole dish a lot outside of funerals.  Growing up it seemed like we had it at least once a month. Creamy cheese and potatoes?  What kid wouldn’t like that?  

Well, now as an adult with dairy, egg, and gluten allergies, it would seem that I would no longer be able to enjoy the cheesy goodness (not that I want to after reading the ingredients in the required can of condensed cream of chicken soup).  But I was determined to create a version I could have.

Could I just create a nutritional yeast cheese sauce?  That works with some success, but I’m not the biggest fan of nutritional yeast in large amounts.  Nor did I want to create a nut-based cheese sauce as there are quite a few member of my family with nut allergies. What I decided to do was create my own cream of chicken soup base.  But how to create that without using flour to thicken it?  The answer: Sweet White Rice Flour.  

5038C24_s_hrUnlike many other gluten-free flours, Sweet Rice Flour is very finely ground, and it thickens sauces beautifully because the rice is higher in starch.  Stir in dairy-free cheddar cheese and dairy-free sour cream, and we are in business.

 I haven’t had a family member yet that can tell it is GF, and DF.  In fact, when my sister-in-law made it for her 1-year-old and 3-year-old, they cried when she put it in the oven to bake, and they cried when it was all gone.

Funeral Potatoes
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Ingredients
  1. 3 tablespoons oil or non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
  2. 2 medium onions, chopped fine (about 2 cups)
  3. 1/4 cup sweet rice flour
  4. 1-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
  5. 1 cup dairy-free milk
  6. 1-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  7. 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  8. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  9. 1-1/2 cups loosely packed dairy-free cheddar cheese (one that melts well such as Daiya)
  10. 8 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
  11. 1/2 cup dairy-free sour cream
Optional Topping
  1. 1 cup crushed gluten-free cornflakes (remember regular corn flakes often have barley malt in them, making them not gluten-free)
  2. 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  3. 1 tablespoon oil or non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (Earth Balance), melted
  4. 2 scallions, greens only, thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat. Cook onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly for about 1 minute, until slightly golden.
  2. Whisk in broth, scraping the bottom of the pan in order to get all of the brown bits off the bottom. Stir in milk, salt, thyme, and pepper and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in cheese until smooth. Stir potatoes into sauce, and cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat until thawed, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in sour cream until combined.
  3. Scrape mixture into 13 by 9-inch baking dish. If using the topping, mix together cornflakes and 1 tablespoon of oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over casserole. Bake 45-50 minutes until topping is browned and sauce is bubbly. Let cool 10 minutes before serving (the hardest part of the recipe). Top with sliced scallions.
Notes
  1. This dish can be made ahead and refrigerated for 2 days (wait on mixing the topping until ready to cook). To cook, cover the refrigerated dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil (add topping if using) and bake until golden brown and bubbly, 45-50 minutes).
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/
The result is excellent, so much so that I decided to submit it to the  Earth Balance Recipe Contest.  Hope you enjoy it!

 

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, GF/EF/DF

Strawberry cupcakes were one of the first gluten-free cupcake recipes I attempted to make.  The first time I attempt, well, they ended up looking like they were cooked with a golf ball in the center.  They sunk almost to the bottom of the cupcake tins.  Okay, maybe not that bad, but they required a ridiculous amount of frosting to hide it.

No pictures of those.

One good thing though, I was able to get the texture right, and texture is such a hard thing to get with gluten-free baked goods.  After researching online about sinking gluten-free cupcakes, I found that I was not the only one who suffered from that ‘sinking feeling.’  Two of the common culprits: over-mixing, and over-leavening.

Over-leavening?

If you add too much leavening (baking powder and/or baking soda) it causes cupcakes to do the opposite of its intended purpose? Crazy, I know, but true.  So after adjusting the amount of baking powder, as well as changing the technic for mixing to help prevent over-mixing.  The result was delicious, and to make it even better? Add a filling, and what better filling than a lemon curd to make for a strawberry lemonade flavor.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, Gluten-free/Dairy-free/Egg-free
Yields 18
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
20 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
20 min
CAKE
  1. 16 
ounces organic frozen whole strawberries (organic have the best flavor, but use whatever you can find)
  2. ¾ 
cup non-dairy milk, room temperature (recommended, Unsweetened So Delicious Coconut Milk)
  3. 1-1/2 tablespoon powdered egg replacer mixed with 6 tablespoons warm water
  4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  5. ⅓ cup brown rice flour
  6. 1 cup sorghum flour
  7. ½ cup potato starch
  8. ¼ cup tapioca starch
  9. 1-1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
  10. 2 teaspoons baking powder
  11. 1 
teaspoon salt
  12. 1¾ 
cups granulated sugar
  13. 12 
tablespoons melted Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
LEMON CURD
  1. ¾ cup So Delicious Unsweetened coconut milk
  2. 1 tablespoon non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
  3. 3 tablespoons Corn Starch
  4. ½ cup Lemon Juice, fresh
  5. 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  6. ½ cup sugar
  7. ⅛ teaspoon Salt
FROSTING
  1. ⅔ cup non-hydrogenated shortening
  2. 3 cups powdered sugar
  3. 8 ounces vegan cream cheese (such as Tofutti), softened
  4. 1 tsp lemon zest
  5. pinch of salt
  6. Lemon curd (recipe follows)
  7. Candied lemon peel (optional)
  8. Chopped fresh strawberries
For Curd
  1. In a small pot, whisk together the coconut milk and corn starch. Place over medium heat. Whisk in the lemon juice, sugar and salt. Whisk every minute or so, then whisk constantly once the mixture starts to bubble around the edges of the pot.
  2. When mixture starts to thicken and bubble constantly, whisk for a few minutes and then remove pot from the heat. Whisk in the zest and margarine until fully combined and place on the counter to cool.
  3. Every five minutes or so, whisk the mixture. When mixture has cooled down a bit, pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and push the plastic wrap onto the surface of the curd (to prevent a skin from forming), and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
For Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in muffin tin. Place frozen strawberries in microwave-safe bowl, cover and microwave until strawberries and soft and have released their juices, about 4-5 minutes. Place in fine-mesh strainer set over a small saucepan. Firmly press fruit dry (you should have at least ¾ of a cup of juice). Reserve strawberry solids for the frosting. Bring juice to boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally until reduced to ¼ cup, about 8 minutes. Whisk So Delicious Coconut Milk, egg replacer, and vanilla into juice until combined.
  2. In a small bowl, mix brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthum gum, baking powder, and salt together. In a large bowl, whisk sugar and strawberry milk mixture together. Slowly whisk in melted margarine, until combined. Fold in dry ingredients until combined.
  3. Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full and bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan, and cool completely.
For Frosting
  1. While cupcakes are cooking, prepare frosting. Using a hand mixer, beat shortening, vegan cream cheese, and salt. Mix in ½ cup of reserved strawberry solids and lemon zest. Beat in powdered sugar until combined. Refrigerate until cupcakes are cooled completely.
Putting it all together
  1. Using a melon baller or apple corer, remove a portion of the center from the top of the cupcake, being careful not to go through the bottom of the cupcake. Fill with curd. Frost cupcakes with desired amount of frosting (I find this works best when done with piping bag with a large round tip). Top with chopped strawberries and candied lemon peel. Enjoy!
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/