Hermits, GF/DF/EF


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You may think by the post title ‘Hermits,’ that I’m talking about myself.  While I was a bit of a cyber-hermit, I certainly haven’t been hermitting (yes, I just made up a word) otherwise.  

I have a large family of 28 members and they were all in town for a week.   With our family, there are certain cookies and candy that if they weren’t on the dessert table, there would be an uproar, and Christmas would be ruined.  Okay, maybe there is a little exaggeration there…not really.  Because there are quite a few others in my family that have food allergies, this meant I had to make batches of both ‘normal’ and allergen-free cookies and candy.  

So I have been pretty busy baking both before and after work for quite some time. I will be slowly posting recipes for some of those treats.

Now back to the recipe for the hermit cookie.  I came across these while going through my grandma’s recipes.  Unfortunately, the recipes came with no directions to it (my guess is it was one she copied quickly out of a magazine).   

I did a search for hermit cookies, and found one that was similar to my Grandma’s, and I successfully converted it to be vegan, and gluten-free.  While a humble looking and sounding cookie, they are delicious, travel well, and stay moist.

Hermits
Serves 40
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Ingredients
  1. 1 cup raisins
  2. 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
  3. 8 tablespoons coconut oil
  4. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  5. 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  6. 1/4 cup brown rice flour
  7. 1/2 cup sorghum flour
  8. 1/4 cup teff flour
  9. 1/2 cup tapioca starch
  10. 1/2 cup potato starch
  11. 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
  12. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  13. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  14. 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  15. 1/2 cup molasses
  16. 1/2 cup applesauce mixed with 1 teaspoon baking powder
  17. 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
  18. 1-1/2 tablespoons orange juice
  19. 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower middle positions. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a food processor, pulse raisins and ginger until the mixture sticks together and only tiny pieces remain. Transfer to a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, starches, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a small pan, melt coconut oil with cinnamon, and allspice and cook until fragrant, a few minutes. Stir into raisin mixture. Add brown sugar, molasses, and applesauce mixture. Stir until combined. Stir in dry ingredients and refrigerate for 2-24 hours, until dough has firmed up.
  4. Divide dough into 4 even pieces. Place two pieces on each lined sheet pan. Using a rolling pin or just your fingers, press/roll each portion of dough into an even 10 inch log (if dough is too sticky, sprinkle dough with rice flour), use a ruler to square the edges.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Only a shallow indentation remains on edges when touched, but the center will appear slightly soft. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring parchment to a wire rack to cool completely.
  6. In a small bowl, whisk powered sugar and orange juice together to form a glaze. Drizzle over cooled logs, and let sit until glaze is hardened. Slice into 1 inch portions.
Notes
  1. When stored in a container, these cookies remain moist and delicious for a long time.
Adapted from Cooks Country
Adapted from Cooks Country
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/
 I have no idea where the name came from.  Maybe because they aren’t glamorous looking like a hermit likely is, or maybe it’s because these are so delicious that you will want to become a hermit and keep all of the cookies for yourself.

Gingerbread Skeleton Cookies, Gluten-free


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Let me start out by saying that I am not a big Halloween fan.  I don’t like horror movies, I don’t like feeling scared, I don’t like corn mazes, and I don’t like candy corn.  

That being said, I do like some of our family traditions for Halloween.  One of my favorite memories is while growing up we would go to my grandparents’ houses to trick or treat.  My Grandma and Grandpa B would ALWAYS dress up.  Even after us kids were older and had stopped dressing up ourselves, they were still dressing up.   I just have to share these pictures. 

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You can see why my Papa called Grandma his ‘Little Woman’

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A recent tradition is when the family gets together we have for a ‘themed’ dinner.  We have Pumpkin Guts (pumpkin chili…recipe to follow soon), Salad with Juicy Bugs (cranberries), Goblin Eyes (Olives or grapes), Witches Brew (homemade root beer), etc. 

We typically get pumpkin pies for dessert, but there are those in the family that don’t like it, or can’t have it because of eggs, dairy, and gluten. I usually do a cookie, and this year, I decided to make some gingerbread cookies and decorate them in a way befitting of the season.  

Gingerbread Skeletons
Yields 36
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Ingredients
  1. 1/4 cup tapioca starch
  2. 1/2 cup potato starch
  3. 1 cup sorghum flour
  4. 3/4 cup teff flour
  5. 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
  6. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  7. 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  8. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  9. 1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  10. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  11. 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  12. 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  13. 3/4 cup sugar
  14. 1/2 cup vegan margarine (e.g. Earth Balance)
  15. 1/4 cup molasses
  16. 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
  17. Powdered sugar
  18. Additional sorghum flour
  19. Favorite dairy-free buttercream frosting (I just use a Wilton recipe and substitute non-hydrongenated shortening for the butter)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375˚F. In a medium bowl sift together dry ingredients (tapioca starch through nutmeg). Set aside.
  2. In a larger bowl, cream margarine, sugar, and molasses together until combined. Divide into two portions and wrap each portion with plastic wrap, flatten slightly, and refrigerate for about an hour.
  3. Mix together 1/4 cup of sorghum flour and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Sprinkle a portion of this mixture on a piece of parchment paper. Unwrap one of the dough portions and place on the parchment paper, sprinkle with additional flour, and top with another piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about 1/8" thick, remove top sheet of parchment paper and cut with a gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes, or until set. Let cool on pan for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough.
  4. Place the frosting in a piping bag (or a ziploc bag) with a #4 tip. Pipe the bones on the gingerbread men (this isn't an anatomy class, have some fun with it!).
Notes
  1. Best part about gluten-free dough? It's not a big deal to re-roll the dough. With 'regular' dough if you roll it and re-roll it, the cookies get tough because of the gluten developing. No issue with gluten-free dough!
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/

Roasted Tomato Sauce


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Wow, where did the summer go?  Between the busy season of my work as a landscape designer, and spending time with family, I have been slightly overwhelmed. 

I spent some time in the mountains, enjoying the sunsets and wildflowers

 

And making birthday cakes for my nieces and nephews (I have 18).

Now that things have started to calm down, I wanted to get back to creating recipes.  So to re-introduce myself into the blogosphere, I have a tomato recipe. I figured with a website name like One Fine Tomato, it was high time I do a recipe that has tomatoes as the main ingredient. 

Another reason for this recipe is I had to come up with a use for my overabundance of roma tomatoes.    Seriously, I have not been able to keep up with these tomato plants.  Made salsa with one harvest, but you can only do so much salsa before you just can’t look at another tomato or pepper without a shudder.   

I was searching the internet for something to do with this all of these tomatoes that didn’t involve an excessive amount of work (unlike salsa where you have to chop, steam, peel, can etc.).  I came across this recipe from Martha Stewart’s website.  It sounded somewhat promising (other than the carrots, that just seems weird to me).   I modified it a bit to my liking, and the result surpassed my expectations (being one who prefers an vegan alfredo-type sauce to a tomato sauce).

 

Roasted Tomato Sauce
Yields 5
This sauce is great on pizza and pasta
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Cook Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr
Ingredients
  1. 3 pounds of roma tomatoes
  2. 2 medium onions, halved, and sliced into 1/4" slices
  3. 4 garlic cloves
  4. 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  5. 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  6. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  7. 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
  8. 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or more to taste)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice all tomatoes in half and remove the core (this is one reason I like romas, you can just cut off the top 1/2 inch of the tomato and you're done).
  2. In a large bowl, toss all of the ingredients together. Divide evenly between two 9x13 glass dishes. Arrange tomatoes so the onions are on the bottom of the pan (otherwise they can burn), and arrange the tomatoes to they are cut side up. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.
  3. Transfer mixture to a high-powered blender (in batches if necessary), and blend until smooth. If you don't have a high-powered blender, remove tomato peels before transferring to a blender. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if desired.
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Adapted from Martha Stewart
One Fine Tomato http://onefinetomato.com/
Even my dad who dislikes tomato sauces more than me likes this sauce.  Roasting the romas really concentrates the flavor, and lends it some depth. Seriously, this sauce is delicious and it makes the house smell AMAZING.