Gluten-Free Recipes

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. butter (1+1/2 sticks) – substitute melted coconut oil for dairy-free
• 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) genuine white wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. (30ml) fresh lemon juice strained of pips
• 4 large egg yolks – remove from fridge ½ hour before using
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• Pinch salt
• Add 2 Tbsp, fresh chopped mint OR 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped dill for fish dish plus some lemon zest OR
• 1 Tbsp. lemon thyme plus some lemon zest

Note: Add herbs little at a time. It’s easy to add more, but not so easy to remove a strong herb.

Directions:

1. Put the butter in a small pan and allow it to melt slowly.
2. Place wine vinegar and lemon juice in another small saucepan and heat to just below boiling. Watch this one carefully, since the vinegar evaporates on heating and fumes can take your breath away. I find if I try to heat the butter or lemon mixes in the microwave they tend to explode or boil over since it is such a little quantity. Do not boil coconut oil as it will curdle eggs. Let coconut oil just melt.
3. Meanwhile, blend the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a food processor. (If you have a large processor you will find it helps to put about one inch of books under the side away from the tube to tilt the processor so all the mix is at one side as you pour, and the egg mix stays in a puddle at one side of processor.
4. With the motor still switched on, gradually add the hot lemon and vinegar mix through the tube. When the butter/coconut oil is hot, start to pour this in very slowly in a thin trickle with the motor running all the time, until all the butter is added and the sauce is thickened. Add the lemon juice and butter in this order.  It didn’t thicken when I tried reversing the order just to test.  (Where we nowadays store eggs in the fridge they are normally too cold to thicken sufficiently at this stage). I have also made this with an immersion blender in a 4 cup jug if you don’t have a food processor.
5. If it is not thick enough, pour thin hollandaise from processor into a glass, circular measuring jug or dish that is microwave safe. I use a 4 cup Pyrex/anchor hocking jug, then microwave in 10 second increments at 10% power until thickened, stirring each time the microwave stops. Normally, it only takes 2 or 3 start/stops, but it does depend on temperature of eggs and heat of other liquids. The sauce is ready when it is a bit thinner than made instant pudding or whipped heavy cream. When you stir the sauce with a metal spoon, it should be possible to draw a line through the sauce on the back of the spoon and have the sauce stay in two separate sections either side of the empty center line.
6. Stir in herbs that match well with your entree.

Note: Microwaves are now far more powerful, so use only 10% power to start with until you are sure of how powerful your microwave is. Microwave, stir well with a whisk, microwave again if necessary.  It will quite clearly thicken. Don’t cook on high power or you will end up with scrambled eggs.

The FDA says that eggs need to be cooked to 160 degrees to avoid salmonella. I find it impossible to cook the hollandaise to this temperature without it curdling. As Julia Child said, if you buy fresh eggs from a reputable source, store correctly and use correctly you should have no problems. Many New York chefs are now returning to recipes with under-cooked eggs with no ill effects on clients.

Many Americans say they don’t like lamb. I love English or New Zealand lamb, but I find American lamb to be strong smelling and tasting. Jacques Pèpin says the fat on the lamb is strong tasting, so he advises removing as much visible fat as possible. I normally buy boneless leg of imported Australian lamb from Costco. If you look Irish Stew up on American sites, they all claim they are the original and all differ. This recipe is what I used to make in England, except that in England I would use neck of lamb and then remove bones. I have made this with shoulder lamb chops, which have far too much fat and not enough meat, but not a cheap cut. This is far better made with leg of lamb, cubed, or lamb shanks. On my cousins’ farm in Ireland, this would taste quite different from supermarket ingredients.  My cousins would dig a bucket of potatoes, onions and carrots fresh from the kitchen garden for that day’s meals. Fresh lamb from the farm is beyond description, so wonderful, tasty, juicy and tender.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. boned leg of lamb, cut into 2” cubes OR 4 small lamb shanks
• 2 onions, peeled and cut in thick chunks
• 2 Tbsp. white or brown rice flour, mixed with salt and pepper
• 3 Tbsp. oil (or butter or lard)
• 2 leeks, cleaned and thickly sliced
• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
• 4 celery stalks peeled and finely chopped
• 12 small potatoes (or more), peeled but left whole
• 2 tsp. gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme OR ½ tsp. dry thyme
• 2 tsp. dried rosemary, placed in coffee filter paper and tied with string
• 4 cups gluten-free chicken stock

Directions:

1. Dip meat in seasoned flour.
2. Heat oil in pan (deep 12″ skillet) and fry onion and lamb together until meat and onions are nicely browned. Frying meat and onions this way adds color and flavor.
3. Add leeks, carrots and celery. Turn with additional butter, if necessary, until vegetables start softening.
4. Add whole potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary and chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook, covered, in 325°F oven for 1½ hours or until meat is tender. Place a layer of foil between the lid and pan so the liquid doesn’t evaporate.
6. You can leave out small potatoes. Peel large potatoes and thinly slice. After about 1 hour of cooking, arrange sliced potatoes on top, cover and continue to cook. When meat is tender, brush top of potatoes with butter and brown the top of potatoes under grill. Thinly sliced potatoes cook quite quickly and can disintegrate.

This is not a baked custard cheesecake. It is a gelatin-set cheesecake that I first made in England and continue to make. Apart from the crust, there is no baking, no worrying if you’ve overcooked the custard, no cracking of cheesecake, no overnight cooling, etc. It’s very popular with my students and clients, and you can vary it with different chocolates and liqueurs. It is stiff when you remove it from the fridge, but softens to more of a mousse consistency when it’s been out of the fridge for half an hour.  My husband likes it firm, I prefer softer. This is a very mild flavor, since Irish Cream is very mild. Use a 7” springform or double the recipe for a 9-10” springform pan.

Almond Shortbread Crust Ingredients:

• ¾ cup (3 oz., 80 g) almond flour
• 3 Tbsp. (45 ml) powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp. (1½ oz., 42 g) butter

Filling Ingredients:

• ½ lb. (1 brick, 8 oz., 225 g) cream cheese at room temperature. I use store brand lite cream cheese, but it does make a softer set.
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml)  powdered sugar
• 1 4 oz. (112g) bar good quality white chocolate, broken into small pieces. (At the time of writing, Lindt are saying their white chocolate is gluten-free. Guitard is the only other white chocolate I know, but its flavor doesn’t compare to Lindt.)
• 1¼ cup (10 fl. oz., 300 ml) whipping or heavy cream, divided
• ½ tsp. gelatin from Knox gelatin packet, sprinkled on 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) water in small cup
• 3 Tbsp. (45 ml) Irish Cream liqueur (At the time of writing, Carolan’s says it’s gluten-free.)

Topping Ingredients:

• ½ cup (4 fl. oz., 120 ml) whipped cream
• 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) Irish Cream liqueur

Directions:

1. For the crust, mix almond flour and powdered sugar. Rub in butter until mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. I do this in food processor, but stop while mix is crumbs and before it mixes to a paste.
2. Sprinkle evenly into base of 7” springform pan and press down.  Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 12 minutes. Base should be a light golden brown and about ¼” thick when cooked. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
3. Pour ¼ cup (60 ml, 2 fl. oz.) cream into a 4 cup microwave bowl and heat for about 44 seconds.  Add chopped chocolate, let stand for 2 minutes, then stir until chocolate mix is smooth. If necessary, heat for about 10 more seconds if there are lumps left. You have to treat white chocolate very carefully, as it has a tendency to harden (seize) if overheated.
4. In a separate 4 cup bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar and 3 Tbsp. Irish cream liqueur until smooth and creamy.
5. Slowly beat chocolate mix into cream cheese mixture and beat for about 1 minute to increase fluffiness. I added a few drops of green coloring to mix.
6. Microwave the gelatin-water mix for about 10 seconds until it becomes yellowy clear liquid. Then beat into chocolate cream cheese mix.
7. Pour ½ cup (4 fl. oz., 120 ml) cream into bowl that was used for melted chocolate and beat cream until stiff.
8. Gently beat cream into cheese and chocolate mix.
9. Pour into chilled crust. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm.
10. Once chilled, run a thin plastic spatula around edge between cheesecake and pan, release spring form side and remove. Gently run a thin knife between base and bottom of pan and slide cheesecake onto serving plate. If you have a springform pan with a glass base, there is no need to move the cheesecake.
11. To finish, whip ½ cup (4 fl. oz., 120 ml) whipped cream with 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp. Irish cream liqueur and pipe rosettes around top edge of cheesecake.

I’ve never cared to eat out on Valentine’s Day. The restaurants are crowded and, often, the meal is overpriced and not very good. The veal version of this recipe was in my 12th grade home economics book. But in culinary school, driving from shop to shop around a sleepy suburb of London on a Saturday afternoon was not the easiest way to find veal escalopes for a dinner party that night. I know better now. This recipe is fabulous with beef tenderloin or fillet steak, but tenderloin easily costs $20 per pound, so I’ve made it with Angus petite sirloin when it’s on sale, as well as chicken breast and pork tenderloin. As you all know, you can’t even rely on any beef steak to be tender—some from the same packet are meltingly tender and others really chewy.

With pork tenderloin or chicken, this is really affordable for a dinner party. The sauce can be made the night before. I normally don’t serve this with any other vegetable with this apart from some tiny potatoes, which can be cooked and ready to reheat in boiling water the night before as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 4-6 oz. (125-175 g) tenderloin/fillet steaks, any silver skin removed (more than a 6 oz. tenderloin is really too much for us to eat with comfort)
  OR veal escalopes, pork tenderloin noisettes
  OR thin slices of chicken tenders/suprèmes
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely crushed
• 2-4 slices of gluten-free lean bacon, scissored thin (I use Jones Dairy Farm labeled gluten-free.  Remember that meat comes under the USDA and doesn’t have to be labelled gluten-free.)
• 1-2 Tbsp. (15-30 ml) olive oil
• ½ lb. (250 g) button mushrooms, washed and thinly sliced
• 4 Tbsp. (60 ml) brandy
• 1 cup (240 ml) heavy dairy or coconut cream (or less, light cream doesn’t have the same rich flavor)
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ¼ cup (60 ml) fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat an 8-10” (20-25 cm) skillet over medium heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil and bacon, then cook until bacon starts softening and releasing fat.
2. Add onion and garlic and gently cook until onion is very soft and starting to brown.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (If preparing the night before, stop here are remove this mix to a bowl.)
4. Return skillet to heat, add lightly seasoned beef and cook over medium heat until there is a nice sear on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip to other side, cook about 3 minutes, add mushroom mix back to pan and let heat for about 1 minute.
5. If you have thick pieces of tenderloin or like meat really well cooked, then cook meat for longer at step 4. Thin veal, chicken or pork escalopes will cook far quicker than a thick tenderloin.
6. Pour brandy into measuring cup and pour onto one side of pan to heat. Use gas grill lighter to ignite brandy and stand well back because it will whoosh. Keep kids and dogs away. If brandy is cold, it won’t ignite. Domestic stove tops won’t normally let you ignite brandy by tilting the pan the way TV chefs do. Shake the pan gently to mix.
7. Once brandy has burnt off, add cream and let everything simmer together for a few more minutes. Squeeze in juice of half a lemon for tang, stir in fresh parsley and simmer for 1 more minute.

By Chef Oonagh Williams of Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh

The cake part is a recipe I have made for many years as my raspberry almond tart, and is one of my son’s favorites, so it was almost the first recipe I adapted to be gluten-free. I can still eat butter, but my son and cousin and many of you are dairy-free. I have been using more and more coconut oil as a butter substitute and prefer it. Plus, even if you can eat butter, coconut oil is a cholesterol-free alternative. The only annoying thing about coconut oil is it comes in a jar and is rock hard unless you have a very warm house. I got fed up trying to dig out hard coconut oil, so now I slowly melt the coconut oil and transfer it into a large square tub with lid, lined with foil.  Once it hardens I flipped it out and roughly cut it up into smaller pieces. Then, I weigh it when I use it, but store it in the square tub. I also just melt the coconut oil for this recipe.  It is very difficult to get coconut oil evenly soft for beating with sugar and I find it works by melting it. This cake is very dense and moist like a pound cake. The topping is also a good dairy-free caramel sauce for ice cream or other cakes. It does taste a bit coconut-y and slightly oilier than butter, but still yummy.

Cake Ingredients:

(No xanthan gum needed)

• 3 oz. (84 g) coconut oil melted or 3/4 stick very soft butter if you can eat dairy
• 3/4 cup (6 oz., 168 g) ordinary sugar
• 3 large eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 1+1/2 cup (6 oz., 168 g) of almond meal/flour slightly rounded (Blue Diamond now makes a certified gluten-free almond flour. Bob’s Red Mill and Honeyville are more expensive options.)
• 1 tsp. (5 ml) gluten-free baking powder
• 2 tsp. (10 ml) gluten-free vanilla extract
• Zest of an orange (optional)

Topping Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (3+1/2 oz., 95 g) light (soft) brown sugar (not packed)
• 3 oz. (84 g) coconut oil or 3/4 stick butter
• ¼ cup (2 oz., 60 ml) Asian-style coconut milk or heavy cream if you can eat dairy
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (170 degrees C)
2. Place all cake ingredients in a 4 cup (1 liter) mixing bowl and beat until well blended and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes
3. Spread mix in greased and gluten-free floured 8×8 or 1 x 9″.
4. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes until well risen, golden brown and set, but still soft in the middle. The texture should be similar to rolls of almond paste when cut, but cooked throughout.
5. Remove from oven.
6. In a small saucepan, melt sugar, coconut oil, coconut milk and almonds together. The mix looks curdled, but as it melts and you stir, it comes together, looks creamy and melted oil or butter blends in and doesn’t float around on top or sides. Boil for a few minutes and it will start forming large bubbles like toffee cooking. I find now when it has cooked for a few minutes with lots of large bubbles, you then just pour it over the cake and leave it to set. Originally, I would broil it for a few minutes, but it burns rapidly and gets like crispier toffee. Just this topping alone is also a good dairy-free, caramel sauce for ice cream or other cakes. It firms up when cold in the pan but is chewy, not hard toffee.