Recipes

October 26, 2016:

So excited today...  my 11 yo son just won first place at the 3rd Annual Culinary Challenge at the Wildwood Casino this weekend.  He entered last year (with the Salmon Chowder Recipe further down) and won (although he was the only student entry), but this year he competed with 4 other students in a very close competition!  These kids amaze me... and we are proud of our son for the work he put into developing his recipe, and testing it all summer (yes.. we had to test it... tough job! ;-) ).  So.. presenting the first place recipe below...  enjoy!  And enjoy it even more as it is allergy friendly and made with some great healthy ingredients..!

Banana Blondie Blitz

Recipe by Jerrod Gallup

Banana Ice Cream:

1 Can full-fat Organic Coconut Milk

4 very ripe bananas

½ cup Maple Syrup

½ cup raw honey

1 Tbsp Great Lakes powdered gelatin

¼ cup hot water

1 cup coconut or hemp milk

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Blend all ingredients (except gelatin/hot water) well in a Vitamix or similar type blender until smooth.  Mix powdered gelatin with hot water, dissolve, then add to blender and blend again.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.  When ready, make ice cream using a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker.  Keep frozen until ready to serve.

Blondies:

1 cup blanched almond flour

1 cup gluten free flour mix (We use Namaste brand)

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

¼ cup honey

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon (to taste)

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Coat inside of a cast iron skillet (or smaller individual sized skillets) with coconut oil.  In a food processer, pulse together flours, baking soda and salt.  Then add balance of ingredients and pulse until thoroughly combined into a dough.

Press dough into skillet(s), and bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown…  let the Blondies cool for at least 20 minutes.

Salted Caramel Sauce:

1 Can full fat organic coconut milk

1 cup dark coconut sugar

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt (or more to taste.. we like a little more for that salty sweet action)

Combine ingredients in a small pot and heat over a medium heat, whisking continuously.  The goal is to cook the sauce down until it thickens (but be careful not to burn).  Once the desired consistency is reached, let it cool in the pan (it will continue to thicken).

Serving:

When ready to serve, slice blondies into squares (unless you baked in individual skillets), top with a scoop or two of banana ice cream.  Drizzle with warm salted caramel sauce and serve. 

Gluten-Free Apple Cider Donuts

2 C gluten-free baking mix (experiment and find one you like, or make your own)
3/4 cup organic sugar (I used coconut sugar)
1 pkg (1/4 oz) Quick-rise yeast
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp melted butter (I use ghee)
1/2 cup warm water (115F)
1/4 c Unsweeted applesauce (I used a Mamma Chia :-) )
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Glaze:

1 Cup apple cider or juice (I used cranberry/apple)
1 tbsp butter (I used ghee)
2/3 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.   Whisk the rest of the ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.  Load into a gallon zip log bag, and snip the corner off the bag.  Pipe the batter into a greased (coconut oil) donut mold pan, filling about 3/4's of the way or more.  Bake at 325 F for 15 minutes or so.  Cool on a wire rack.

For the glaze, boil the cider down in a small saucepan until you get it reduced to 3-4 tbsp.  Put in a bowl, add butter til melted.  Then add powdered sugar, blending enough in to get a good glaze consistency.  Dip the cooled donuts in half way, and transfer to a plate and lets stand until set... or just eat them if you impatient :-)

Makes around 10 donuts.




November, 2014:

Ok... had to add this recipe here because it is so good!  My 10 yo son came up with this recipe, fine-tuned it, and then entered the Culinary Challenge at the Wildwood Casino in Cripple Creek, CO.  He was one of the ones selected to come to the competition to prepare it for a panel of judges, including Food Network "Chopped" winner, Justin Werner.  Needless to say, he was in heaven working in the kitchen with professional chef's.  He won his category, and this will be a menu item on the "Care and Share" menu at Mavericks (At Wildwood casino) this holiday season!  Enjoy!

Hearty Salmon Chowder

 

Ingredients:

6 oz-8 oz Salmon Filet

Favorite plank rub (I use Pearl St. Plank Rub from Savory Spices in Co Springs)

Olive Oil

1 C.  diced celery

1 C. diced carrots

1-2 medium white potatoes (peeled and diced)

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ medium onion, diced

4 TBSP Organic Butter

2 TBSP Bacon Fat (from cooking bacon)

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

3 cups Chicken stock

½ cup pureed Roasted Red Pepper (jar)

1 1/2 C heavy cream   (or sub ½ and ½ if desired)

1 C Riesling,  or other white wine

Cut fresh corn from two corn cobs or 1 cup frozen corn

Fresh dill

Green onions

Smoked Paprika

1.       Lay salmon filet on a lightly oiled foil in a pan

2.       Coat the salmon with the plank rub, and bake at 400F oven for 20 minutes or until done, set aside.

3.       Dice carrots, potato, onion, celery and garlic, and sauté in a large pot with  butter and bacon fat.  Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.  Cook until onions are soft and clear

4.       Reduce heat to medium and add chicken stock and simmer until all vegetables are at the desired softness. Add heavy cream, and pureed roasted red pepper, corn, and season with smoked paprika.

5.       Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes, then add 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill, and white wine.  Add Salmon by breaking up into small chunks.

6.       Continue to simmer gently for 10-15 more minutes. 

7.       Serve garnished with chopped green onion, fresh dill sprig, and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

Quinoa Salad with Squash

Just tried this recipe over the weekend and it was amazing! Found it in the local paper, but it originated from the Inn Season Cafe, Royal Oak, MI.

What I love about this salad is that it is a great summer to fall transitional salad.  It uses squash, but you can serve it cold, room temp, warm, or hot... and such great textures and flavors.  Oh.. and it's good for you too.. so there you go!

Salad:
4 cups cooked quinoa (I blended regular quinoa and the smaller red quinoa)
2 cups cubed winter squash (I used butternut)
1 tbls Olive oil
1 1/2 tsp of cumin and chili powder
1 tsp ground sage
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup pumpkin seeds ( I did half pumpkin half walnut)
1 C each chopped red onion, carrot, celery
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Lime vinaigrette:
3/4 C olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tbs lime juice
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, peeled and mashed
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 425F
2. toss squash with olive oil, cumin, chili, sage, salt and nuts. Roast 15 min or so to get the squash tender, but not mushy
3. In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa, squash/nuts, onion, carrot, celery and parsely.
4. In a small bowl whisk together the dressing.
5. add dressing to quinoa/squash and toss..
6. Serve on a bed of fresh spinach or greens.

Enjoy!



Dairy-Free Fettuccine Alfredo from Whole Life Nutrition

This is an amazing recipe... I believe it is in the new cookbook from Whole Life Nutrition (see link above).  The recipe recommends pairing with brown rice fettuccine noodles, but we used Cappello's Almond Flour fettuccine which is AMAZING.  Available in the Denver area, but hopefully in Colorado Springs soon too. The texture is awesome, as well as the flavor.  The sauce is really cool...  it thickens up nicely, and the combination of the yeast and wine create a delicious cheese like flavor

You can add chicken, shrimp, or sauteed zucchini, carrots and other veggies etc...

One 16 oz package of brown rice fettuccine noodles

Sauce:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small shallot, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon sweet rice flour
1 teaspoon Herbamare
pinch nutmeg

Garnish:
Finely chopped parsley
freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to the packing directions, rinse and drain in a colander.

To make the sauce, place all ingredients into a high-powered blender and blend until ultra smooth and creamy.

Pour sauce into a 2-quart saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Toss warm sauce and noodles together in a large bowl, sprinkle with the chopped parsley and ground black pepper. Serve immediately.

No-Bake Energy Bites from Smashed Peas and Carrots

(makes 18-20 bites)

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.  I also store these in the freezer, and grab a few as fuel options on a longer run. 

The key thing about this recipe is you can mix and substituted just about anything to suit your taste. I've used sunflower seeds, hemp seed hearts, other nut butters, chia seeds, agave nectar etc...  Also thinking you could embed a chocolate covered espresso bean for a caffeine kick!

Banana Coconut Cookies

These cookies are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. They are only slightly sweet and high in protein, making them a nutritious after school snack served along side carrot and celery sticks. You can add mini chocolate chips to some of them if desired though this will add a little bit of cane sugar. You could replace the 2 tablespoons of maple syrup with more banana if you don't want any sweetener.

Wet Ingredients:
1/3 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil  ( I cut this in half, and replaced the other half with Organic Peanut butter)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon organic almond flavoring

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almond flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
(I also made these with mini chocolate chips from Enjoy Life that are dairy/soy/gluten free)

In a medium-sized mixing bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix together using a fork. Form dough into ball and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Form dough into small balls (about 15) and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie ball with the palm of your hand. Bake for about 15 minutes. Cookies will be soft straight out of the oven but will firm up once completely cool. You can place them onto a wire rack to cool and then place the rack into your freezer for quick cooling. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com




 Irish Soda Bread (From elanaspantry.com, via Lillian's Test Kitchen)

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups Blanched Almond Flour
• 1/4 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 cup Raisins
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 Tbs Agave Nectar
• pinch Caraway Seeds

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
• Mix together the Blanched Almond Flour, Celtic Sea Salt, Baking Soda and Raisins in one medium bowl.
• Whisk together the Eggs, Apple Cider Vinegar, and Agave Nectar in a small bowl
• Combine the wet into the dry ingredients. (if you let it sit for a moment, the vinegar will react to the baking soda and will froth a little bit. It’s pretty cool)
• Mix well
• Sprinkle with pinch of Caraway Seeds
• Grease a pan with a dab of Grape seed Oil (I used coconut oil... olive oil would work too)
• Plop the dough on the pan and mold it into a 8 inch circle that’s about 1 1/2 inch deep
• Using a serrated knife, score a cross into the dough that’s about 1/2 inch deep.
• Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F
• Turn the oven off, but leave the bread in the oven for 10 more minutes
• When it’s been a total of 30 minutes (20 with the oven on, 10 with the oven off) Take the loaf out of the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes.
• Eat!

Easy Crustless Pumpkin Pie   (From Jules Gluten Free Thanksgiving recipes)

Ingredients:

• 15 oz pumpkin puree (canned or fresh, cooked)
• 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
• 3/4 cup liquid vanilla creamer (I used vanilla coconut milk creamer)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs (organic, local if possible)
• 1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup gluten free buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup packed organic brown sugar
• 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder (cut in half at altitude)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F. Oil a 10 in pie plate and one ramekin with olive oil or coconut oil.

Mix together all liquid ingredients in one bowl and whisk together the dry ingredients in another. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the liquid bowl while whisking. beat until totally combined. Pour into prepared pie plate, leaving at least 1/4 inch between the batter and the rim. Pour any remaining batter into prepared ramekin(s).

Bake at 450F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375F and bake for 30 more minutes or until a knife inserted into the pie comes out clean.

 should all check it out. It’s fabulous. Her website is here: www.elanaspantry.com