Flourless Chocolate Cake // Black Forest-ish

Observe the lack in these two photos… 

I requested photo help and got CRUMBS.

No photos that look post-able.

And yet I remain in a stance of:  sorry, not sorry.

"WHY?" you might ask?

It's just that great! EVERY TIME.

There's actually nothing left to take a photo of.

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CAKE:

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

2 teaspoons dark cocoa powder

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

8 TABLESPOONS butter

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla

3 large eggs

1/2 cup cocoa powder

OPTIONAL GLAZE:

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

CHERRY  TOPPING:

1 can cherries, in light syrup

3 TABLESPOONS corn starch 

1/4 cup water

1 TABLESPOON butter

2 teaspoons lemon juice

WHIPPING  CREAM:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powder sugar

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla

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Pre-heat your oven to 375.

Lightly grease a springform pan and dust with sugar.

In a small or medium mixing bowl combine: sugar, salt, and dark cocoa powder.  Set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a medium sauce or frying pan, stir constantly until chips melt and mixture is smooth.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

FIRST:  Using a hand-mixer, add in the vanilla.

NEXT:  Add and in the mixture of sugar, salt and dark cocoa powder.  Mix until smooth.

NEXT:  Add in the 3 large eggs.  Mix until smooth.

NEXT:  Add in the cocoa powder.  Mix until JUST BARELY combined.

LAST:  Spoon into the sugar dusted springform pan.  Smooth out the top of the cake batter with the back of a large soup spoon.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.  

If it starts to smell done (like a delicious dark chocolate cake) use a cake tester to check for doneness.  If the tester comes out clean, you're done.

If it starts to smell burnt... you've gone too long in the oven.

When done, remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes.

Run a springform knife along the edges and flip the pan before you release the cake onto a cooling rack.  The top will now be the bottom.

If you're wanting to do the glaze, let the cake cool completely.

If you're skipping the glaze and want to eat the cake hot or warm have your whipping cream and cherry topping prepped while the cake cooks in the oven.

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GLAZE:

Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

Heat cream in a small saucepan until it has tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan.  It will be very hot, but not a simmer stage.

Pour hot milk over the chocolate in your heatproof bowl and stir just to combine.  LET SIT FOR 5 MINUETS.

Stir again - for the first little bit pretty slowly.

THEN - ramp up the stirring to fast until the chocolate is completely melted and becomes smooth.

Spoon glaze over the cake, spreading out to the edges to let it drip over the sides just a bit.

Cut and serve as is with just the glaze.

OR...  

Add in a Black Forest-ish element and make the cherry topping and whipping cream. 

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CHERRY  TOPPING:

Combine water and cornstarch in a small saucepan.  Whisk together well until completely combined.

Add: can of cherries, butter, lemon juice.

Heat over a medium heat and stir constantly.

While stirring, squish the cherries to break them up.

Once at a soft boil, give it 1 more minute before turning off the burner.

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WHIPPING  CREAM:

In a stand mixer bowl combine heavy whipping cream, powder sugar and Mexican vanilla.  Using the whisk attatchment, beat on low for 1 minute and then on medium-high to high for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is firm and still smooth (mix too long and it will become lumpy).

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Coconut Chia Pudding

This recipe is so easy... 

I feel so silly for posting it.  
I feel like I am sharing a recipe for making toast!
...or a glass of water!!


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1 can organic coconut milk

3-4  TABLESPOONS organic maple syrup

1/4  cup organic chia seed

In a medium bowl, add ingredients in the above order.

Stir throughly and cover with plastic wrap or lid if you have one for your bowl.

For best results: let this set-up overnight.

I usually stir it before I go to bed and then again when I get up in the morning.

If you're making this last minute, you'll need a minimum of 4 hours for the chia seeds to plump up.

If it becomes thick and lumpy: add more coconut milk.

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OPTIONAL  ADDITIONS:

* fresh and washed blueberries, or raspberries, or strawberries.

* whipping cream

OPTIONAL  VARIATIONS:

* 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla 

* almond milk instead of coconut milk

* brown sugar instead of maple syrup 

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Chicken Cabbage Salad

FROM  YOUR  GARDEN or favorite grocery store:

Prepare and chill a few hours before:

1 head of cabbage, rinsed and core removed

6-8 fresh basil leaves, rinsed and ribbon cut

3 - 5 green onions, or the smallest sprouts of the onions you're growing

1/2 - 3/4 cup raw almonds, sliced or chopped 

1 - 2 TABLESPOONS black sesame seeds 

OR white sesame seeds, toasted

Have ready for when serving, but do NOT mix in:

1 - 2 cups Gluten-Free crackers (I like Miltons or the almond ones by the Diamond brand)

SALAD  DRESSING:

(Have ready for when serving, but do NOT mix in)

In a mason jar with a tight lid add:

1/2 cup VERY LIGHT olive oil, or a vegetable oil you like

1/4 cup sugar

3 TABLESPOONS white vinegar

1/2 - 1 TABLESPOON Chicken flavor "Better Than Bullion" paste

1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

2 pounds of chicken tenders

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Ribbon cut your rinsed and cored cabbage, put in a large salad or mixing bowl.

Add sliced green onions (or small onion sprouts) and basil ribbons.

If using plain sesame seeds, broil on high on parchment paper or foil for 1-3 minutes.  But watch out!  They toast up fast!

Add sesame seeds and almonds to the large salad bowl.

Cover and let chill a few hours.

In a glass jar with a lid, add:

oil, sugar, vinegar, salt and "Better Than Bullion" chicken paste.

Shake to mix well.

Right before you're ready to eat:

Make the chicken.

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I usually put 1/2 the jar of dressing into the big salad bowl and then present the rest of this dinner as a buffet, letting everyone choose their amounts of toppings (and maybe doing some extra chicken if I'm feeding Gavin or Garrett this dinner). 

You do not have to do it that way!  

Any variation you like...  have at it.

No set guidelines to this salad protocol other than:

DO NOT ADD ANY CRACKERS UNTIL YOU ARE ABOUT TO EAT.  

Please...

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CHICKEN

2 pounds of chicken tenders

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

olive oil - for cooking

Combine chicken, salt and pepper in a small or medium bowl and keep in the fridge until ready to cook.

Cook in olive oil in cast-iron or large skillet until both sides are golden brown.  

Transfer to a serving platter or bowl and cover with foil to maintain moisture.

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Bethany’s Bread - AKA: cake bread // Celiac Friendly // Gluten-Free

Nearly everything at our house gets named...

Cars and trucks most notably.

Jars of natural yeast.

And as you'll notice here on the blog: recipes.

Mostly that's just because it's how each different recipe is identified.  

For example: RED CHILI 

There's Dave's Camping Chili (which is exactly what I say when asked what's for dinner and that's what's been made...), and there's BBQ Chicken Chili. I have no idea what Dave named his chili!  But it's the name my family and I use to talk about, communicate about, the recipe.  

The main intention of this blog is to pass along recipes with MY edits, MY ideas, MY techniques to my four kiddos.  The titles of the posts are what we literally call them at home, and therefore their needed name here on the blog.

Huge shout-out and THANK  YOU to Bethany for sharing her favorite celiac friendly bread!!!  She came through on a "what's your favorite and tastiest celiac-friendly bread" ask when I was desperate to have something to make at home for Bret Annalese  - (I was sick and tired of bread that cost 10$ a loaf to buy!!). 

Officially named after you: Bethany’s Bread. 

NOTES:  original recipe from "Barefeet in the kitchen" - BFK

AND: her recipe says you can use a hand mixer... I respectfully disagree from personal experience with this recipe.  A hand mixer does not beat enough air into the dough and my very sturdy KitchenAid hand mixer nearly died in the process of trying it that way. YIKES.

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COMBINE just the dry ingredients into your mixing stand bowl:

1 cup brown rice flour
1 and 1/4 cups oat flour
(Bob's Red Mill - a certified Gluten-Free Oat Flour is my favorite!)
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour (sometimes called starch)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 and 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 and 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum


Gather and prep, but keep separate from dry ingredients until cued in the instructions:

3/4 cup warm milk


1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 OR 1/3 cup honey


3 large eggs (added one at a time)


Optional: ( but not really... it's so good!) sprinkle of certified gluten-free oats for the top of the bread



TIP TO MAKE MILK: make "whole milk" by mixing equal parts water and heavy whipping cream of the needed amount. (I don't use milk very often so I buy heavy whipping cream because it will last for a few months without spoiling.)

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Instructions:

Place the dry ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer.

Melt the butter in a small sauce or frying pan.

Turn off the heat and add the honey.

Whisk or stir it together and set aside.

Using a stand mixer and the paddle, gradually beat the warm milk into the dry ingredients. 

The mixture will be crumbly at this stage, but once the butter and honey is added, it’ll come together. 

Add the melted butter and honey to the mixing bowl and beat until thoroughly blended.

Add the eggs, ONE at a time. 

Beat the mixture till each egg is combined before adding the next one. 

Once you’ve added all the eggs, beat the mixture at high speed for 3 minutes. 

WHY:  This adds air to the thick batter, which helps take the place of the missing gluten as far as structure is concerned.

At the end of 3 minutes the batter will look like a thick buttercream icing.  (Another reason Gavin calls this "cake bread")

Leave the batter right in the mixing bowl and cover the bowl with a light cloth or plastic wrap.

Let the batter rise for 75-90 minutes. 

This batter will not double in size, but it will puff up. 

Scrape it into a lightly greased average-ish size loaf pan.

Wet a large soup spoon and use the back of it to smooth out the dough; you'll have to run the spoon under water a few times so that it does not become too sticky. 

NOTE: The smoother your loaf is before you put it into the oven, the smoother it’ll be once it’s baked.

Lightly sprinkle the top of the loaf with oats and press gently into the loaf. 

Loosely cover the pan with your plastic wrap from the mixing stand bowl and let the dough rise till it barely crowns over the rim of the pan - 60 to 90 minutes (I am usually waiting the full 90 minutes on that second rise).

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. 

Remove it from the oven and let rest 10-15 minutes before you remove it from the loaf pan and place onto a cooling rack. 

Slice when completely cool.

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SMASHED! Potatoes

 

Boiled - SMASHED! - Baked

recipe for 2 baking trays - 1/2 the recipe if you want less...

(BUT you don't want to 1/2 the recipe - you want to have the SMASHED! Potatoes leftovers with scrambled eggs and Bitchin' Sauce. YUP.)

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4-5 pounds small yellow and red potatoes

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons rosemary, FRESH, finely chopped

3 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons coarse ground pepper

OPTIONAL:    parmesan cheese

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Fill a large cooking pot with water; get it going in prep to be at a boil when your potatoes are scrubbed up.

Pre-heat oven to 425.

Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper.

Prep your potatoes by scrubbing with an old kitchen rag or vegetable scrubber, remove any dark or unwanted spots.

Boil in your pot for 15 minutes (20 if they're bigger) - you want just barely fork tender.

Throughly drain in a colander, leave in the colander and rinse out / cool down your cooking pot.

Put your potatoes back in the pot.

Add olive oil and spices.

Evenly spread out on the 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

SMASH! each of the potatoes flat at about 1/4 to a 1/2 inch thick using the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

OPTIONAL:  Flip all the potatoes 1/2 way through.

(but really, you can be lazy about it and not...)

OPTIONAL:  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese when out of the oven

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This recipe is modified from the original shared with me by Emma Lee, my sister-in-law, at an AZ yoga-hike retreat. At the same retreat I was introduced to this sauce... life changing!  (The retreat and sauce.)  :0)  love and gratitude for all the things I LOVE that you bring into my life sweet Emma!! 

Spaghetti Sauce

Camping dinner made easy with
sauce pre-made

Spaghetti Sauce: NOT to be confused with Greg’s Pasta Sauce…Which, if you’ve ever asked for the recipe of, you will have encountered a sly: "Sorry! You have to marry into the family for that one!"

Although I won’t share the Greg’s Pasta Sauce recipe - I’m happy to have you over for dinner and feed you some! We can talk about how the recipe got written down one hand measurement or eye-ball measurement translation at a time... And then you'll ask: Who is this Greg and why is this his sauce? I'll tell you a story about his 2 year church mission to Italy and learning how to cook from tiny old ladies. We’ll share words of affirmation at how awesome and magnificent the sauce is. Maybe even cry tears of joy for having such good food to share! And I’ll tell you how when both of our families had teeny-tiny kids we would scheme during church meetings to figure out who had what ingredients and then make it for supper that night. 

This is a little bit second fiddle - but just as tasty in a different more American way. GREAT NEWS! I am able to share this recipe on my blog because I am under no pinky promise to keep it within the family ties. 

The spaghetti sauce has its own history. Gavin typed out the instructions somewhere around his junior or senior year in high school. When he asked me to teach him how to make it he asked, "Why isn't it in your huge binder of collected favorites?? Where is the recipe?". 

It was in my head from a mesh of manicotti, lasagna and pizza sauce recipes I loved. We all have Gavin to thank for its existence outside of my brain.

THANK YOU GAVIN!

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Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4  cup Bertolli's olive oil

2 lb. limited ingredient sausage (2 Hot Kroger Brand prefered)

2 large or 3 medium Yellow Onions 

2 Bundles Garlic

3 Cans tomato sauce (29-30 OZ)

SPICES:

1 TBSP. Sugar

2 teasp. coarse ground black pepper 

4 TBSP. Basil

5 TBSP. Oregano 

2-3 teasp. Kosher salt

About 20 Red Pepper flakes 

Instructions:

1. In large pot, cook all sausage in Bertolli’s olive oil until browned
2. Add both onions finely chopped 
3. Cook onions until caramelized/brown
4. IF onions stick to the bottom of the pan, Add 1-2 Tbs. of Olive oil
5. Turn stove down to a simmer (simmer high at Davis house)
6. Add garlic and spices, cook an additional 5- 8 minutes stirring continually until fragrant
7. Add all tomato sauce, stir until all ingredients are well combined (keep on simmer) 
8.   Cook 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes (sauce will turn a deep red)
9. Turn off heat and enjoy with cooked spaghetti noodles

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Better Than Pie - Pumpkin Dessert

 

BONUS:  This recipe is a sneaky way to use
up leftover Natural Yeast Basic Bread...
But sometimes (if you're like me!)
You'll make the bread JUST so you can
make this recipe! 

Technically speaking it is
NOT just a dessert - it is a BREAD  PUDDING.

ORIGINAL  RECIPE  FOUND  BY:  Bret Sr. 

SCHEMED  INTO  EXTRA  BATCHES:  Gavin and Mama Jo

ALL  EXTRA  EDITS  AND  EDITIONS  TO  MAKE  IT  MY  OWN  AND  EXTRA  DELICIOUS:  Mama Jo

A Thanksgiving conversation that went something like this: 

Bret Sr.:        What desserts are we having?

Mama Jo:     Gluten-Free Key Lime Pie.

Bret Sr.:        Key Lime Pie isn't Thanksgiving-ish.

Gavin:           Pumpkin pie.

Bret Sr.:        No one likes pumpkin pie... 

                       I'll find something better.

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For Natural Yeast Bread Crumbs:

Preheat the oven to 275.

Cut off the crust and chop up your old bread.  You'll need 3-4 cups of bread cubes.

Bake on parchment paper for easy handling.

Make a single layer of bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake at 275 for 15-30 minutes until the bread cubes are dry but not toasted.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

When cooled, blend up in a blender on low until made into fine crumbs.  You'll need 1 cup-ish of dry bread crumbs.

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INGREDIENTS:

2  cups (15 oz.) pumpkin puree

1  cup sugar

1  teaspoon cinnamon, heaping

1/2  teaspoon ground ginger

1/2  teaspoon ground cloves

1/2  teaspoon pink Himilayan salt

2  egg yolks, large

1  cup  (or up to: 1 and 1/4 cups) dry bread crumbs

2  cups whole milk

(alternative:  1 cup water and 1 cup whipping cream mixed)

2  egg whites, large

SERVE  WITH:

toasted pecans

whipping cream

maple syrup

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Preheat the oven to 350.

Prepare an 9X13 baking dish with cooking spray or lightly rubbed with a light olive oil.

Combine pumpkin puree, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a large bowl.

Then using a hand mixer ADD the egg yolks ONLY and beat for 2-3 minutes on medium-high.  (Careful: it might spray a bit...)

Next, ADD the bread crumbs and mix well on LOW.

Next, ADD the milk and mix well on LOW.

WASH YOUR HAND MIXER BEATERS BEFORE NEXT STEP.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they are foamy and make soft peaks when the beaters lift out of the bowl.  (SEE PHOTO)

Very gently FOLD the beaten egg whites into the other bowl of ingredients.

Pour final mixture into the prepared 9X13 baking dish and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes until edges and top are browned.

Can be served hot or cold (we all prefer COLD - tried it hot out of the oven and it seemed a bit like pumpkin pancakes...)

Serve topped with:

whipped cream

toasted pecans

maple syrup

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FOR  TOASTED  PECANS:

Preheat the oven to 325.  

Chop your pecans into the size of pieces you want.

Toast the pecans in a shallow pan on parchment paper until they begin to get fragrant, about 7 to 10 minutes.  

Let cool completely before storing. 

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FOR  WHIPPED  CREAM:

2  cups heavy whipping cream 

1/2  cup powdered sugar 

1  teaspoon vanilla  (Mexican vanilla is preferred)

Whip up on medium-high until thick and pulling off the edges of your bowl. 

Keep in the fridge until needed.

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