Sunday, March 28, 2010

Raspberry Limeaid (SCD, GFCF)


My husband ordered one of these at Red Robin restaurant. It looked so good I had to try to make one for the SCD.

About 1/4 cup Raspberry Syrup
Club Soda (SCD legal, I used White Rock)
Limes
Ice

Fill a glass about 1/2 way with club soda. Add raspberry syrup to taste. Squeeze in a lime slice or two. Add ice.

Here's a SCD recipe for soda pop at Kids Can Do SCD

And a Cranberry Sparkler at Heal-Balanace-Live

Raspberry Syrup (SCD, GFCF)


This is delicious on pancakes! I wanted to make a fruit syrup that could be multi-purpose, good for waffles, pancakes and desserts.

12 oz. bag Frozen Raspberries, thawed
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup Honey

Add raspberries and water to a blender and puree. Then, set a wire mesh strainer over a saucepan. Pour the raspberry mixture into the strainer and gently stir with a wooden spoon to remove the seeds. Add honey to raspberry mixture and stir, over medium heat, about 30-40 minutes, until mixture begins to slightly thicken. (it will still be quite runny) Let it cool and it will thicken a slight bit more. Pour cooled syrup into a glass jar and keep refrigerated until use. It should keep for about 10 days.


Saturday, March 27, 2010

Great Recipe: Cauliflower Pizza Dough



Yes, that's right, a pizza crust made from cauliflower that has a great pizza dough flavor! It's from Your Lighter Side.

I doubled the recipe to fit a whole cookie sheet. Her recipe also calls for Mozzarella Cheese, which is not SCD legal, so I substituted with Alta Dena Goat Cheese for the crust and Romano Cheese for the topping. I steamed fresh cauliflower till fork tender and used a ricer. Instead of immediately ricing it, I first pushed on it just enough to squeeze the water out of it. Then I riced it.

It was a very thin crust pizza with a great flavor. I haven't tried it for breadsticks yet but the photo on her blog sure looks good.




I have found many great recipes from Low Carb cookbooks and blogs. They get real creative with veggies like cauliflower, much like the SCD. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet isn't a low carb diet, we don't count carbs. We just eliminate certain carbs we cannot digest, and some of these are also avoided by low carbers as well, although for different reasons. Low carb recipes are mostly gluten-free too. However, they will still have the occasional recipe with wheat flour so you have to be familiar with your diet before digging in low carb lit for recipes.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Moist and Simple Coconut Cake (SCD)


Sometimes the most simple and humble dish can take you by surprise. My cousin Julie has a recipe for "Crustless Coconut Pie" that I was trying to recreate and I came up with this instead. It's a very moist cake, nothing fancy, and yet it can hold it's own against fancier desserts. If you like coconut and comfort food I think you'll enjoy this. It is also my submission for this month's "Go Ahead Honey...It's Gluten-Free" hosted by Amy at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free. This month's theme is Guiltless Pleasures.

2 Eggs
1/3 cup Honey
1 cup Coconut Milk
2 TBSP Butter, melted
1/2 teas Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Almond Flour
1/2 teas. Baking Soda
1/4 teas. Sea Salt
1 cup Shredded Coconut, unsweetened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I used a Pyrex pie pan.

In a small bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs until frothy. Whisk in honey, coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture. Stir in coconut until well combined. Pour into pie pan and bake about 25 to 30 minutes, until golden.

Note: If you are following the SCD for health reasons be aware that many brands of coconut milk contain gums that can irritate your gi tract. Trader Joe's brand, as of this writing, is suppose to be safe. Coconut milk can also be easily made from shredded unsweetened coconut. Here is a recipe at Assoc. Content

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Spinach Egg Soup (SCD)



The other day I had a cooked chicken in the fridge and planned on using it in a salad. The weather changed to cold and rainy and I found myself going through Barbara Kafka's "Soup A Way of Life", looking for something warming and homey. I found this lovely recipe, called "brodo con straciatella". It makes "strings" of eggs using a combination of eggs, flour and Parmesan cheese allowed to drip through a strainer into hot broth. I tried it, minus the flour, and found it much easier to just drip it off a spoon. I've altered the recipe by adding chicken and using frozen spinach.

2 Eggs
3 TBSP Parmesan Cheese, very finely grated
Dash of salt
4 cups Rich Chicken Broth, salted to taste
10 oz Frozen Spinach, chopped very fine (no need to thaw)
1 or 1 1/2 cups Chicken, cooked and diced fine

Combine eggs, cheese and a dash of salt in a cup. In a large pot heat broth to boiling, add spinach and heat through. Drizzle egg mixture in with a spoon. Add chicken and heat through, about one minute.

Serves 3 or 4.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs (SCD, GFCF)



One of my co-workers sells fresh eggs. They come in all different colors, which my son loves. He's at that age where he always wants to know why. When he asked why they were different colors I said they came from magic chickens. That answer seemed to suffice. I'm not lying if I really believe it, right?

I used to think that for boiling eggs you just let them boil in water for awhile and voila...boiled eggs. I also wondered why my yolks were always green on the outside. Turns out, there are many different views on how to get a perfect, creamy, and green-less boiled egg.




If I consult my usual sources, The Joy of Cooking, recommends starting with simmering water, enough to cover a single layer of eggs by one inch, then adding the eggs with a slotted spoon and boiling 14 minutes for large eggs. Then plunging into cold water. Cooks Illustrated recommends putting them in boiling water for 10 minutes and then putting into cold water. But for me, the idea of working with my hands over boiling water isn't appealing. Luckily there's even more suggestions.

Elaine Corn, author of 365 Ways to Cook Eggs,(a favorite cookbook of mine) says to put the eggs in a pot in a single layer, cover with water by one inch. Bring to boil over high heat. Turn off immediately, cover and let sit for 17 minutes. Then rinse in a colander under cold water. She says that peeling the eggs immediately keeps the green on the yolks from forming.

I use the method similar to Ms. Corn's. I put my eggs in a pot, cover with water by about 1/2 to one inch. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil one minute. Remove from heat and cover with a lid and let sit for 11 minutes. Run under cold water. I don't peel mine immediately unless I am using them at the moment. I keep them in the fridge, up to one week, on hand for salads and snacking. You may need to experiment to find what works best.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Grain-Free Bread (SCD, GFCF)



I love bread and I'm allergic to gluten and bakers yeast, so I'm always experimenting with bread recipes. This one is pretty good. It's moist and it slices beautifully. Elana Amsterdam has a great tip for storing grain-free breads. Wrap it in paper towels and place in a plastic bag, and it keeps about six days in the fridge.

4 Eggs
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 teas. Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups Almond Flour
1 teas. Baking Soda
1/2 teas. Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Line a 4" x 8" loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a small mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk mayo and eggs until smooth. Whisk in vinegar. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Pour into pan and bake about 30 minutes, until browned and tests clean with a toothpick.