Recipe Review: 101 Cookbooks "Sauteed Zucchini"

I had an opportunity to come across some really pretty yellow squash this week. So I took a chance on a recipe that I've had my eye on from 101 Cookbooks. If you don't read her blog, do so immediately. It's amazing. And her food photography is stunning. The pics alone are enough to make you eat anything she posts about.

I've had squash prepared a number of ways over the years, but somehow I've missed the simple saute. But don't be fooled by this recipe. Though it's simple it doesn't taste simple. It's quite simply amazing.

Admittedly, I made a few mistakes in my own preparation.  For one, I overfilled my pan which resulted in less browning than I would have liked and more steaming.  This is something her recipe warns about so don't make the same mistake I did.  I also omitted the dill, because I didn't have any.  And I omitted the almonds because I just don't like them.  But still the dish was quite possibly the best squash I've ever had.  And certainly the best squash I've ever made myself.

Note that the recipe calls for A LOT of garlic and shallots. So if you don't like those flavors this dish will not appeal to you. I however, love garlic and shallots and this recipe hit that spot hard! It was delicious with chicken and I imagine it would also go great with beef. But I think the flavors might be too strong for something like fish or pork as an accompaniment.

I'll definitely be making this again as soon as I can find more excellent squash. I suggest you do the same.

Recipe Review: Comfy Belly's Coconut Flour Donuts (AKA Vanilla Cupcakes)

Today's Recipe Review is another from the amazing Comfy Belly blog. I promise it's just a coincidence that I've done two of hers in a row.

A few weeks ago I was rabid for a donut. Pre-SCD I occasionally indulged in one of THE BEST things on earth. A hot Krispy Kreme donut. Melt in your mouth sugary bliss. Those days have come and gone. But the desire to have a donut has apparently not fled. So I was delighted to stumble upon her recipe for donuts made from coconut flour.

Unfortunately, I don't have a donut maker or donut pan.  But her recipe assured me that I could make the recipe as cupcakes.  So I did. . .

They came out perfectly.  Golden.  Lightly crisp on the outside.  And check this out!  So moist on the inside you can see it in my pic. . .

And on a side note, I love to watch things bake in the oven.  I mean, I stand in front of it and look through the window and watch things bake.  These are the first grain-free anything that I have made that I could actually SEE rise while baking.  That's got to be why these are so light and fluffy.

I did modify the recipe by adding 1 tablespoon of ground chia seeds (as I do to all coconut flour baked goods). This does contribute to the moistness factor. But since chia is SCD illegal you can leave it out and these cupcakes will still be amazing.

I have dubbed these "Vanilla Muffins".  They are now a permanent part of my baked good rotation.  I think this base recipe would be wonderful with several variations.  I'm planning to try adding blueberries, pumpkin, zucchini and apples.  I'll keep you all posted on my experiements.

In the meantime. . . Go make these!  Now.

Seriously.  What are you waiting for?

They're terrific!

Recipe Review: Comfy Belly's Candied Pecans

I had the chance to make the Candied Pecans that I found on one of my favorite blogs, Comfy Belly.  I'd actually been looking for a candied nut recipe.  One my favorite pre-SCD foods was honey roasted nuts.  But those are loaded with illegal ingredients and no actual honey that I could spot.

These homemade pecans turned out spectacularly.  They were easy to prepare and used very simple ingredients.  Basically, just nuts, butter, honey, and spices.  Using parchment paper (which I did) or a silpat is necessary to keep the nuts from sticking to the pan while they roast.

You can see from my less than stellar pic that I only have a few left. They were so amazing right out of the oven. Be careful not to burn yourself while shoveling them greedily into your mouth! The spice mix is lovely and basic, though I may try to put my own spin on it next time and make them hot and spicy! And I'm definitely going to try this with walnuts. And cashews. And any other nut that strike my fancy. Yum!

My biggest concern was that the nuts would be too sticky and clump together. But if you let them dry well after roasting them, making sure to separate them well on the pan, sticking is not a problem at all. They store well in the fridge and make a great sweet snack.

Definitely give this one a try!

Light White Bread Redux

Okay, so I've been doing a lot of baking with the almond flour over the last two weeks or so. And in general I'm really pleased with it. Does it taste like wheat? Not really. Is it pretty yummy anyway? Definitely. I've made bread, muffins, biscuits, and cookies and everything has come out more than satisfactorily. At this point, all errors lie with me.

That being said, I took another pass at the light white bread recipe found in Healing Foods. This bread is supposed to light in color and moist. I substituted some banana flour for some of the almond flour in my first attempt at this recipe. That experiment yielded a surprisingly dense bread but one that was super with butter and jam - my favorite way to eat bread. This time I executed the recipe as written. I won't reproduce the recipe for you here. You'll have to buy the book for that. But behold! Light White Bread.



This version of the bread came out golden and beautiful. It was light and moist. Tastewise it would have made excellent sandwiches although the bread is very fragile. It breaks easily, I expect due to the whipped egg whites that are called for in the recipe to give it it's lightness of texture. As before, I've consumed the entire loaf with butter and jam. It's one of my favorite things.

Will I be making this again? Oh, yeah!

Light White Bread

My first SCD baking experiment was the Light White Bread from Healing Foods. Sorry no pics this time. I'm having some trouble with my camera software. I chose this recipe to do first because I thought it might make a nice option to have with sandwiches. Unfortunately, the recipe didn't come out as light or white. This is probably due to the fact that I was using a coarser grind of almond flour instead of a fine grind. I also substituted plantain flour for half of the flour called for. I substituted the plantain flour because I wanted to cut down on the amount of almonds I'm taking in and because I wanted to add extra moisture to the bread. Plantain or banana flour is really soothing to the gut and is very moisture absorbent so it makes anything you bake really moist. If you're going to use it in your recipes you should really add a little extra water to get the consistency just right. I just eyeball it.

The bread was dark and dense and super moist. It didn't rise very much but that's to be expected. It has a really mild flavor. If the texture were lighter and fluffier it would make an excellent sandwich bread flavor wise. Right now it's super delicious with butter and jam. I can't keep from eating it. I'm definitely going to try this recipe again with a finer grind of almond flour. And maybe some coconut flour. I hear coconut flour bakes up very similar to wheat - lighter and fluffier than almonds. I'll also increase the recipe slightly. Since the bread doesn't rise a great deal you'll need a bit more batter to have sandwich size loaf.

Next up: Muffin Mix Muffins from Everyday Grain-Free Gourmet