Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie

Two years ago I would have given anything for the last couple days.

I was living in Kenya then, discovering a new country and trying to find myself. Those six months in Nairobi were an unforgettable and oh-so-important time in my life, but they were also very lonely. I didn't know many people and I spent much of my days in quiet solitude, writing. I spent the rest of them baking.

One of the very few cookbooks I brought with me was Rebecca Reilly’s Gluten-Free Baking. I swear that cookbook saved my life. Or my sanity, to be exact. There’s only so much self-reflection one can take before starting to go a little nuts around the edges. And so, when I couldn’t take it anymore, I found myself in the kitchen.

I spent practically every day of those six months writing in the morning and baking in the afternoon. By 3pm, if you happened to drop by, you would find me covered in some sort of gluten-free flour, dancing (probably to the beat of Mamamia!), and baking anything from muffins to scones to biscotti...to, of course, pie.

It was in the late afternoon light of that African kitchen that I discovered my first truly delicious gluten-free crust. Straight from Rebecca Reilly's book, this crust is an all-around winner, working beautifully with both sweet and savory dishes. I once made a quiche with this crust and was told by someone who didn't know it was gluten-free that it was the best crust he'd ever had. I'm not kidding. If you don't have Rebecca Reilly's book, you should get it. The woman knows what she's talking about.

I loved those long hours spent in that white-tiled kitchen, hands covered in butter and flour, lost in my own little world. I loved the creativity, the experimenting, and the discoveries that came from trying new things. I loved it all.

Except when the holidays rolled around.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays have always been particularly special to me. Not because of all the food and presents (although those are wonderful too), but because of the time spent with family. Growing up, Mom always worked relentlessly to make the holidays special. And to her, that meant everyone working together. On Thanksgiving morning, she would gather the whole family in the kitchen and start handing out tasks and potato peelers. We would sit around the kitchen table, listening to music, talking, teasing, and laughing as we prepped and cooked together. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we would spend entire weekends baking together, filling the house with the intoxicating smell of cinnamon and cloves.

And so, two years ago, thousands of miles away alone in my kitchen in Kenya, this time of year was difficult, to say the least. I would have given anything to be in the kitchen cooking and baking, my mother next to me. Which is why I would have given anything for the last couple of days.

This Thanksgiving morning found me and my family in the kitchen, coffee in hand, ready for the day. Side by side, we sang to music and laughed as we worked, preparing mountains of food to share with each other and close friends. It was a day of warmth, joy, and love.

It was exactly what the holidays are all about.

I'm thankful to be home.

Gluten-Free Crust, from Gluten-Free Baking by Rebecca Reilly

1 cup Basic Gluten-Free Mix (see recipe below)
2 tablespoons sweet rice flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (omit if using crust for savory foods)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice or cider vinegar

Mix the gluten-free mix, the sweet rice flour, the sugar, and the salt in a bowl. Cut up the butter into little chunks and work them into the dry ingredients with your hands to form a coarse meal. Make a well in the center of the bowl and break the egg into it. Add the lemon juice to the egg and work both into the dry ingredients with a fork until well combined. Form the dough into a ball or flat cake at the bottom of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes (or up to a couple hours if you want to prepare the dough in advance) until it is hard enough to work with (if the dough is too warm, it will be soft and difficult to roll out).

Roll the dough out between two sheets of wax paper. Once rolled out, peel off the top sheet and flip the dough into a greased 9-inch pie pan. Peel off the other layer of wax paper, and form the dough into a pie crust, fluting the edges.

To prebake the crust, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Makes one 9-inch pie crust.

Basic Gluten-Free Mix

2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 cups flour.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

I made this pie with pie pumpkins (pictured above), but it is just as delicious with canned pumpkin. If using pumpkin that you cooked yourself, you may need to add an additional egg than what the recipe calls for. Mine was more liquid than usual, so I added another egg and it did the trick.

1 1/3 cup mashed pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk
3 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk until well blended. Pour into pie crust and bake for 45-55 minutes. This makes a lot of filling, so you may have enough to bake a little dish of it on the side.

This filling is also delicious on its own without a crust, so if you're in the mood for pumpkin custard or pudding, omit the crust!

Gluten-Free Apple Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without apple pie.

Well, that's not exactly true. In my book, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie, but apple pie is a close second.

I've had trouble, over the years, finding a gluten-free apple pie that I actually liked. There have been plenty that have been passable, but I usually find them either too sweet, too bland, or they leave me with an aftertaste of some oddly bean-tasting or too-much-tapioca flour. So when I saw a recipe for apple pie with an oatmeal cookie crust in The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Molly Katzen, I knew I just had to try to make the gluten-free version. It seemed just different enough to hold a world of potential. And, boy did it.

People, I have a new favorite apple pie.

I mean, check out this crust:

It's a giant oatmeal cookie, only easier to make. There's no rolling out of finicky gluten-free dough. You just throw the ingredients together and then press them down into the pan, forming a deliciously thick oatmeal cookie bottom (that doesn't fall apart!). It couldn't be easier, and it goes perfectly with the tart, slightly sweet apple filling. The crust also makes a scrumptious topping. I'm already planning to use it for my next fruit crumble.

So for this Thanksgiving dinner, I give you a slice of oatmeal-cookie apple pie!

For more gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes, check out Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef's Thanksgiving Post. You'll be overwhelmed with the cascade of gluten-free deliciousness as everyone sends in their favorite recipes. There's no need to feel deprived this holiday season!

Gluten-Free Apple Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust, adapted from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Molly Katzen

Crust:

1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 cup gluten-free flour mix (I used this one)
1/3 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the vanilla in with the melted butter. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix well. Press firmly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan, keeping a handful of crust for the topping.

Filling:

3 medium-sized granny smith apples, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Put the sliced apples in a large bowl, drizzle with lemon juice and mix well. Add the spices, lemon rind, and cornstarch and mix well again. Gently stir in the sugar until well combined.

Layer the filling into the unbaked crust and sprinkle with the handful of reserved crust.

Bake for 50 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crust is golden.

Serve hot or warm. This pie is also delicious the next day (or two) reheated and served warm.

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Biscuits

When Shauna and Danny from Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef put out a shout-out to post a gluten-free recipe for Thanksgiving, my mind started racing with ideas. I was planning on posting gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes anyway (after eight years of eating gluten-free, I’ve got quite a couple), but this was something more. This was a project I was really excited about.

Years ago, Shauna’s blog (at the time, Gluten-Free Girl) came as a godsend - it was the first blog I found that actually offered recipes for gluten-free baking. In 2006, not wanting to spend another Christmas missing out on all the cookies and baked goods that fill our house during the holidays, I turned to the internet in desperation…and there it was. A warm-hearted, funny, and delicious blog full of gluten-free recipes. I never turned back. That year, thanks to Shauna, I made all sorts of Christmas cookies.

Really, it's thanks to her that I finally decided to start a blog this year. And now, I want to help her give to others what she gave to me. If you or someone you know cannot eat gluten, check out this post (you will find all sorts of delicious Thanksgiving recipes, all gluten-free). She and Danny also just published their first gluten-free cookbook. It’s a beautiful book, bursting with love, life, and scrumptious recipes. You want this book.

So I’m happily joining the throng of bloggers out there helping to spread the word. I will be posting more of my regular gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes in the week to come, but I wanted to start out with something completely new, something I had never tried before. Finally, after much flipping through cookbooks, I found what I didn't know I was looking for.

Sweet potato biscuits.

Biscuits are the type of food people who have been recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance think they can never eat again. Well think again, my friends. In truth, you’ll find that nothing is really ever off limits (as long as you keep an open mind and are willing to experiment!).

These biscuits are soft and fluffy inside, slightly crispy outside, and they taste of the holidays. Not to mention, they are super easy to make.

Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Biscuits, adapted from The World’s Best Recipes by Sarah Ainley

1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour (I used Shauna and Danny’s gluten-free all-purpose flour mix – I urge you to make a big batch and always have some on hand. It’s delicious and super handy!)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
2/3 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add the sugar and mix in well (I find a whisk works best to get all the dry ingredients uniformly blended).

In a separate bowl, combine the sweet potatoes with the milk and butter. Mix well.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into the well and mix everything until well blended.

Using a spoon, scoop mounds of batter out of bowl and drop onto a greased cookie sheet. You should have about nine biscuits. Bake until puffed and lightly golden, about 18 to 20 minutes.

Eat warm, plain or with a tad of butter. These are also delicious the next day, reheated in a toaster oven.

Happy eating!

Makes 9 biscuits.

Pumkin Mushroom Sage Sauce over Pasta

There is a passage in Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” that describes the feelings one starts developing towards certain vegetables by the end of the season. I think this specific passage is about asparagus – those beautiful, sensual, green stalks that start jutting out from the dark earth in April. We await their arrival with impatience, and we know that, as soon as they arrive, we need to eat them. Then and there. If you wait too long, they lose that fresh only-in-season unmistakable taste of true asparagus. So you gobble them up. You throw them in everything imaginable, from salads to pizza to pasta to bread…until, by the end of the season, you can’t imagine ever eating another stalk. Which, of course, is the whole point of seasons, isn’t it? Because just when you think you can’t take it anymore, the earth stops giving you asparagus and starts tossing baskets full of tomatoes and zucchini at you. And the whole process starts over again.

In fall, my asparagus is the pumpkin. Those hard, round, bright orange fruits that bring to mind fall leaves, holidays, and magic carriages (yes, Cinderella was my favorite book when I was a child. My mother says she must have read it to me at least a thousand times. I think she may be kidding about that number…but I’m not sure).

And so this fall, I am warning you, you will get very sick of pumpkins. It’s starting; the recipes are piling up in my mind and I can feel them just about to reach the breaking point. They will soon start pouring out and showering you with pumpkin everythings…

…starting with a creamy pumpkin-mushroom-sage sauce tossed with pasta. Talk about comfort in a bowl. You add a glass of red wine and a crackling fireplace, and I promise you’ll feel like you’ve died and gone straight to cozy heaven.

This recipe however – let me be completely honest here – was my pre-attempt at delving into true pumpkin cooking. I have two very real, very beautiful pumpkins sitting on my kitchen floor waiting for me to take a knife to them.

But, no matter how excited I get at the thought of carving my first pumpkin of the season, there is also something a little daunting about the task. Or a lot daunting. So, at 8pm on a weeknight, when I got home and got ready to start dinner, I decided carving pumpkins was really more of a weekend task. This recipe, therefore, was made with good old canned pumpkin. It’s still 100% pumpkin, but I think we can all agree it never tastes quite as good as the in-season fresh kind. So, if you have fresh pumpkin on hand, by all means, use it here. Your taste buds will do an extra little dance.

This sauce gives you a small taste of what the season has in store. Let’s call it an opening act, or an amuse-gueule, to what the real fruit of fall will soon bring to the table.

Pumpkin Mushroom Sage Sauce over Pasta

This sauce is super simple and quick to make. It’s perfect for a busy weeknight or anytime you’re in the mood for some comfort food. And your vitamin A will be through the roof!

1 package gluten-free spaghetti or linguini
10 cloves garlic, pressed
20 sage leaves, chopped
2.5 tbsps butter
10 shiitake mushrooms, sliced (you can use any type of mushroom you like, but shiitakes are my favorite for taste and health benefits)
1 15 oz can 100% pure pumpkin
1.5 to 2 cups vegetable stock (depending on how thick you want the sauce)
3 oz cream cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan to serve with (optional)

Cook the pasta following the directions on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the 0.5 tbsp butter in a heavy based frying pan and throw in the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium high heat until slightly brown and cooked through (about 5-7 minutes). Set aside.

In a large pot, sauté the garlic in the remaining butter for a minute (do not let brown). Stir in the sage leaves and cook one more minute. Add the canned pumpkin and the stock. Stir everything well, bring to boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cream cheese and stir well until the cheese is melted and everything is well mixed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately over pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.

Enjoy cozily!

Serves 4

A Blending of Seasons

It seems the weather is playing tricks on us. I had planned to write about soups full of comforting warmth this week, but with temperatures that reached close to 90º, soups just didn’t feel quite right (unless you ate them late at night when the temperatures were once again in their right minds).

Instead, late afternoons found us searching for something refreshing, something that would cool us down but that still tasted of fall. So Josh took it upon himself to find a solution, and he did.

I present you – or, rather, he does – with: The Cider Martini.

In other words: apple cider disguised in a summer suit.

The glass in itself looks refreshing (oh, how I love martini glasses!), but the true magic doesn’t happen until your lips touch the silky gold liquid. That first sip fills your senses with the delicious spiciness of autumn, but ends with a revitalizing kick that leaves you refreshed and all summery-fall feeling. It’s a drink that makes you smile, mixing nostalgia for a season that is past and excitement for one that is beginning.

Try it – you won’t be disappointed!

Cider Martini

The following quantities make one glass. A shaker can hold two glasses worth, so just double the quantities and shake it all up if you're making this for two.

1 ounce good quality rum
0.5 ounce good quality whiskey
3 ounces apple cider
a couple ice cubes
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
a sprinkling of nutmeg and/or allspice

Put the rum, whiskey, apple cider, and ice cubes in a shaker. Shake vigorously until well-combined and cold. Pour into a martini glass. Garnish with a sprinkle of spices and a cinnamon stick. Sip and enjoy!

Mulled Cider and A Fall Party

On Friday we threw fall a party. It’s the least we could do, really. When I think of all the gifts fall brings us every year – breathtaking scenery, cool temperatures, crisp blue skies…it even manages to do away with those pesky mosquitoes! – honoring it with some sort of celebration seemed like a small but necessary gesture.

So we went out and gathered the ingredients that the season made readily available. We concentrated mainly on apples and asked friends to bring whatever stroke their fancy.

Someone brought a delicious curried sweet potato dip, while someone else brought a mouth-watering pumpkin cheesecake.

I made baked goat cheese with honey and apples, a combination lusciously tart and sweet at the same time.

Once baked, the apples become soft and just a little brown, melting into the warm cheese and creating a perfect silky bite with just the right amount of tang.

We dug in without holding back.

But the pièce de résistance was the mulled cider. I had it cooking on the stovetop when people started arriving, infusing the house with the scent of cinnamon and cloves. Pulled like magnets toward the spices, everyone walked straight to the kitchen, sniffing the air and inhaling deeply, nose above the pot and eyes closed in sensory pleasure.

I made three huge pots of it throughout the night. We kept taking breaks from the singing and music by the fire in the backyard to come back in and refill cups with the warming fall drink, relaxing more into the coziness of the evening with every sip.

And so, on this second Friday in October, we officially welcomed fall with steaming mugs of cider, friends, music, a bonfire, and belly laughs that ricocheted deep into the crisp night air.


Hot Mulled Cider, slightly adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Holiday Entertaining

This recipe makes 6 mugs full once you add the liquor. The original recipe calls for brandy, but we used rum and/or whiskey. My favorite is rum with a splash of whiskey - I don't usually like whiskey, but in this drink it gives it a nice little kick. I highly recommend it!

The recipe is also delicious with no alcohol, but it will make less.

4 cups (32 fl oz/1 L) apple cider
4 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
8 cloves
8 cinnamon sticks
1/2 an apple, thinly sliced
rum, brandy, whiskey...your choice!

Select 6 mugs. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cider, honey, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and 2 of the cinnamon sticks. Bring to just below a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Pour desired amount of liquor in a mug. (Start slow if you're not sure how much you like - you can always add more!) Divide the hot cider mixture evenly among the mugs, pouring it through a fine-mesh sieve. Garnish each serving with a cinnamon stick, a sprinkle of your favorite spice, and 1 or 2 apple slices. Serve at once!

Note: Since I wanted people to be able to come and get refills whenever they wanted, I doubled the recipe and, once it was ready, passed it through the sieve into another pot, which I kept on low heat so that it stayed hot. I left a laddle next to it and people were able to get refills throughout the night without having to deal with filtering the liquid.


Baked Goat Cheese with Honey and Apples, slightly adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Holiday Entertaining

1/2 lb (250g) log soft or semi-soft goat cheese
1 crisp apple (my favorite is Granny Smith)
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Gluten-free crackers for serving

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Place the log of goat cheese on a baking sheet. Flatten it some with a spatula. Halve and core the apple and thinly slice it lengthwise. Put the apple slices in a bowl, add the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the honey, and turn the apples to coat. Drizzle the remaining two tablespoons honey over the cheese, and layer the apple slices on top.

Bake until the cheese is warm throughout and softened and the apples are tender, 8-10 minutes. Using a wide spatula, transfer the cheese to a platter. Serve warm with crackers!