Monthly Archives: November 2014

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine Cookies

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Gluten-Free Lace Florentine CookiesLace Florentine cookies filled with chocolate are a one of my favorite cookies. The caramel flavor is sweet and well, a little bit addictive. It’s hard to eat just one. This version of the cookie is made gluten-free using a mix of pulverized oats and almond meal to combine with a homemade caramel sauce that forms a batter. I have used steel-cut oats and Quaker oats and both work fine. I would not recommend using quick cooking oats, as the oats are thinner and the quantity might not hold up for the batter.

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine CookiesTo make the batter, add the oats to a food processor and process until it looks like a meal, about 1-2 minutes. Add to a large bowl along with the almond meal and salt. In a heavy saucepan add the butter, brown sugar, sugar and cream until the butter is melted and ingredients are mixed through. Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until the sides start to bubble. Make sure the entire pot does not bubble or the caramel will not work well for the batter. When the sides start to bubble, turn of the heat and add the vanilla extract and mix through. The alcohol in the extract will cause the mixture to bubble a bit which is fine. Pour the hot caramel into the dry ingredients and mix through.

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine CookiesPour the hot caramel into the dry ingredients and mix through.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350° and place two racks in the oven. When the batter is cool enough to handle spoon 1-teaspoon size balls on a baking sheet leaving plenty of room (about 3 inches) for the cookies to spread out while cooking. I do 6 cookies on a sheet and cook 2 sheets at a time.

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine CookiesThe sheet placed on the lower rack cooks faster than the upper rack so after 4 minutes, move the top baking sheet to the lower rack and the bottom baking sheet to the upper rack and bake for another 4 minutes. 8 minutes should be enough for the cookies to get golden brown. If your oven is a bit slower then keep the cookies in for 10 minutes but make sure they do not burn.

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine Cookies When you take the cookies out of the oven, some of them may have run into each other. Use a knife and gently separate the batter. The cookies are very amenable while they are on the hot baking sheet so you can also use the knife to create more perfect shapes if you wish.   Remove the cookies on the parchment paper to a cooling rack or cutting boards to cool, they will cool almost immediately once removed from the hot pan. Repeat until batter is finished.

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine Cookies Once all the cookies are baked, heat the chocolate in a double boiler until melted. Pair the cookies up as best as the shapes can match and line them up on parchment paper with the bottom side of the cookie facing up. Spread one of the matched cookies with the chocolate. Since the lace cookies have lots of holes, some of the chocolate will drip the drip through onto the parchment paper. Place the matching cookie on top with the bottom side down on the chocolate. Place the parchment paper with the filled cookies on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set the chocolate. Repeat with remaining cookies and add them to the tray in the freezer.

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine CookiesWhen you are done making all the cookies, store the cookies in a freezer-proof bag or container and take them out right before serving.  This will keep he chocolate form melting through the cookie.

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine Cookies

Gluten-Free Lace Florentine Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup oats (not instant) processed to form a meal

½ cup almond meal

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

5 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons heavy cream

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup good quality semisweet chocolate chips – I use Guittard or Tcho

Process oats until fine and add to a large bowl. Add the almond meal and salt and mix through. Melt butter, brown sugar, sugar and cream in a heavy pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until almost a boil, when the sides start to bubble but make sure the whole pot does not bubble. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract and mix through, then pour into dry ingredients and mix through to form the batter.

Preheat oven to 350° and place two racks in the oven. Place 1 teaspoon-size balls on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets – 6 on a tray about 3 inches apart.  Bake for 4 minutes and rotate baking sheets and cook for another 4 minutes and check for doneness. Bake for 8-10 minutes in total when cookies are golden but not too brown.

Remove the cookies on the parchment paper to a cooling rack or cutting boards to cool. Repeat until batter is finished. Once all the cookies are baked, heat the chocolate in a double boiler until melted. Pair the cookies up as best as the shapes can match and line them up on parchment paper with the bottom side of the cookie facing up. Spread one of the matched cookies with the chocolate. Place the matching cookie on top with the bottom side down on the chocolate. Place the parchment paper with the filled cookies on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set the chocolate. Repeat with remaining cookies and add them to the tray in the freezer. When you are done making all the cookies, store the cookies in a freezer-proof bag or container and take them out right before serving.

Makes 18 sandwich cookies

Turkey-White Bean Soup with Kale

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Turkey-White Bean Soup with KaleThis is a great tasting soup for winter. It blends a lot of great flavors and nutrition in one meal and it freezes really well so you can make it ahead and always have soup on hand to serve. This recipe calls for making the turkey stock from scratch using uncooked turkey. If you have a left over turkey carcass and want to make stock from that, that can work. Alternatively, you can use bought chicken stock.

Turkey-White Bean Soup with KaleTo make the stock, use a 2-1/4 – 2-1/2 pound half turkey breast with bone in and skin on and ask your butcher for 2 turkey necks. In a large stockpot, add water, onions, carrots celery salt, ground pepper and the turkey. Bring to a simmer, cover pot and let simmer for one hour. I like to make the stock one-day in advance refrigerate it and the skim off the fat before making the soup.

Turkey-White Bean Soup with KaleWhen the stock is done, remove the turkey breast and let cool. Discard all other solids and reserve liquid. Remove the skin from the turkey breast and cut the meat into half-inch pieces   Discard the skin and carcass. If you are making the stock one-day ahead reserve the cut turkey in a covered bow or storage bag until you are ready to make the soup.

Turkey-White Bean Soup with KaleThe key ingredient in this soup is the addition of a Parmesan rind that is about 3” x 2”. As the soup cooks the Parmesan adds a subtle, nutty flavor and depth to the soup and is well balanced by the rosemary. To make the soup, first prepare the beans. While the stock is cooking (or the next day prior to making the soup if you had made the stock one day in advance) add 1 cup of dried white beans to another pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and let stand for one hour. Drain water and reserve beans.

Turkey-White Bean Soup with KaleIn the pot that was used to pre-cook the beans, add the oil, chopped onion, garlic, rosemary and sauté until the onion is soft – about 4 minutes. Add the reserved stock, beans, Parmesan rind and bay leaves and simmer covered for 50 minutes, until the beans are cooked through. Then add the kale, the diced carrots, and turkey. Mix through and simmer for 15-20 minutes uncovered. Discard bay leaves and Parmesan rind and serve.

Turkey-White Bean Soup with KaleTurkey-White Bean Soup with Kale

Ingredients:

Stock

½ turkey breast about 2.25-2.5 pounds with bone and skin

2 turkey necks

2 onions quartered

3 carrots peeled and cut into thirds

4 celery ribs cut into thirds

1 teaspoon ground pepper (or ground using pestle and mortar for a coarse grind)

I teaspoon kosher salt

10 cups of water

Soup

1 onion diced

2 garlic cloves grated or finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

2 tablespoons EVOO

1 cup of dried white beans – cannelloni or navy beans will do

Parmesan cheese rind – about 3” x 2”

2 large bay leaves or 3 small ones

1 10 oz bag of kale

4 carrots, peeled and diced

3 cups turkey – cut into 3/4” pieces

To make the stock, add all ingredients to a stockpot, bring to simmer and cook covered for an hour. Remove turkey breast and discard all other solids and reserve stock. Cut turkey into ¾” pieces and discard the skin and carcass. If making one day ahead, reserve the stock and turkey pieces separately. Remove the stock from the refrigerator and skim the fat

Prepare beans using the quick soak method by adding1 cup of dry white beans to a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and let stand for one hour. Drain water and reserve beans.

To make the soup, add the oil, chopped onion, garlic, rosemary and sauté until the onion is soft – about 4 minutes. Add the reserved stock, beans, Parmesan rind and bay leaves and simmer covered for 50 minutes, until the beans are cooked through. Then add the kale, the diced carrots, and turkey. Mix through and simmer for 15-20 minutes uncovered. Discard bay leaves and Parmesan rind and serve.

Makes 8-10 servings

 

 

Sauteed Beet Greens

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sautted beet greens with beetsThe best part of buying a bunch of beets is that you get the leafy greens attached to the beets. These beet greens are really flavorful. They have a bit of the earthy taste that you find with beets and a consistency like chard. The only bad thing is that with a bunch of 3-4 beets, you get enough of greens to serve about 2 people. So you need to buy plenty of beets to have enough beet greens for 4 to 6 people, which is why beet greens aren’t the most popular green.

sauteed beet greensThe next time you buy beets, don’t discard the greens, rather sauté them in olive oil and then add one thinly sliced beet to the greens and sauté that for a minute until softened. Season with salt and serve. I used light red beets for this dish.  You can easily use golden or dark red beets as well.

sauteed beet greensSautéed Beet Greens

Ingredients:

1 bunch beets with greens

1 beet thinly sliced

2 tablespoons EVOO

Kosher salt

Cut beet greens into pieces about 2 wide. Heat EVOO in pan and add greens and sauté until soft, about 2 minutes Add sliced beets and sauté for 1 minute. Season with salt and serve.

Serves 2