Spinach, Ham & Cheese Brunch Casserole

We've really been enjoying the wonderful taste of the sourdough starter breads and rolls lately.  This recipe is a delicious use for the gluten-free sourdough brown bread I make. I was inspired by some suggestions for brunch casseroles in the Food Network Magazine, and tweaked things around to make a gluten-free version that had all the ingredients I love.  This version has been a hit with the whole family. So much so that I made it for our friends Julie and Jeremy who came for dinner, and they loved it as well.  I find it's a wonderful dish for any time of day, even thought I've called it a brunch casserole.  It reheats wonderfully, and it also nice chilled, like a quiche.  While I love quiche, this is a wonderful alternative - perfect for a chilly day! Enjoy!

Ready to eat! 

Spinach, Ham & Cheese Brunch Casserole
Serves 6-8
Prep ~20 minutes, Sitting time ~30 minutes, Baking/resting time ~1 hr.

Butter a 9x13 pan.

In a large frying pan, heat at medium heat:
2-3 Tbsp olive oil

Add and saute until tender:
2 large shallots, diced OR 2 small onions, diced

Add, stirring until wilted:
4-5 large handfuls of baby spinach
salt & pepper, optional

Remove from heat and set aside.

Chop up one loaf of gluten-free sourdough brown bread, ideally one day old (or bread of your choice, ideally 1 day old) into 1" cubes.  You should have 8-9 cups.  (I have a 9 cup tupperware that I put my 1" cubes into once chopped after baking/cooling my bread, then I'm ready to make this casserole the next day)

Place 1/2 your bread cubes into the bottom of the 9x13 pan.

Sprinkle over top of the bread:
2 cups grated flavored cheese (flavored gouda (I've used a nice mustard & pepper, and an italian-seasoned gouda), strong cheddar, or similar density cheese w/ flavor of your choice would work well)

One half bread cubes topped by 2 cups grated flavored Gouda

Spread over top of cheese:
Cooked spinach & onions
1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped ham (cubed ham or slices of ham, diced)

Top with remaining cubes of bread.

Mix together, and then pour evenly over pan:
10 eggs
1.5 cups cream (lactose free works great)
1.5 cups milk (2%) (lactose free works great)
1 - 1.5 tsp salt

Spinach mixture, then ham, then bread cubes, then egg and milk/cream mixture, prior to covering.

Cover pan with plastic wrap and let sit 30 minutes.  Remove plastic wrap.  Bake at 325F for 50 minutes, or until set in the center.  Let sit 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

This is great fresh and hot, but also wonderful as leftovers either cold or warm.  I find it's similar to a tasty quiche, but with the crust throughout.

Enjoy!!!

Kristin's Low-Sugar and Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies/Muffin Tops

These yummy cookies/muffin tops turned out puffy and chewy and were gobbled up by everyone, without anyone seeming to notice they were a low-sugar experiment.  They seem an appropriate 'New Year's' cookie recipe to post.  But really, I'll eat them anytime.  They're a fun, quick cookie to whip up and I love that they taste like muffin tops! Enjoy!

Kristin’s Low Sugar and Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies/Muffin Tops

Makes ~30-36 cookies

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line cookie sheets with silicon mat or parchment paper.

Mix in a mixer:

¾ cup white rice flour (OR 1/2 cup brown rice flour + 1/4 cup white rice flour - I found they spread a little bit more, but were just as tasty, and add a bit of extra fiber)

¾ cup whole oats (gluten-free if celiac or sensitive)

¼ cup brown sugar                                            

½ tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

Add and mix in at medium speed, just until blended:

¼ cup oil

¼ cup butter, softened

¼ cup honey

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

Add and mix in:

½ - 1 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)

Drop by 1 Tbsp amounts onto prepared cookie sheets.  Bake 8-9 minutes, until lightly browned.   

Remove onto a cooling rack to cool.  Enjoy!

Delicious Italian Meatballs

One of our favorite family recipes to make is Swedish Meatballs, which I regularly make and then freeze for delicious leftovers.  I wanted to create a similarly tasty and easy Italian-style meatball that could be baked and eaten fresh or frozen for meals at a later time.  This version of Italian meatballs is quick to mix up, and you can use a cookie scoop to pop onto your baking tray.  They're packed with plenty of herbs, so they're nice and flavorful and are great with pasta or used in meatball subs.  Enjoy!

Delicious Italian Meatballs
Makes ~20-24 meatballs

Preheat oven to 375F.  Cover a cookie sheet with foil, lightly oil.

Mix in a large bowl, until evenly combined:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs OR Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/4 cup milk (lactose-free works great)
1 small onion, finely diced
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 - 3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 - 1 tsp dried basil
3/4 - 1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 - 3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Scoop 2 Tbsp sized balls onto prepared pan using medium-sized cookie scoop OR roll 2 Tbsp meat into a ball in your hands for nicer shaped meatballs.

These were just scooped on using a medium cookie scoop. 

Bake 25 minutes, until fully cooked.

Note: the finer you dice your onions, the neater your resulting meatballs will look - I'm never very patient with finely dicing my onion, so my meatballs are never quite perfectly round.

Meal options:
1. Serve meatballs with GF pasta, spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese.
2. Use these meatballs in meatball subs - make my homemade gluten-free hot dog bun recipe, and fill with warm spaghetti sauce, meatballs and mozzarella cheese.  You can toast these in the oven briefly before serving to help melt the cheese.

Any extra cooked meatballs freeze really well!  You can reheat directly in your spaghetti sauce in a pan over medium heat.  Once the sauce is simmering, your meatballs should be all warmed up.
Enjoy!

Gingerbread House Recipe & Frosting - Gluten-Free!

Making homemade gingerbread houses lathered with frosting and an excessive amount of candy has been a family tradition for years.  It turned out to be one of those really easy recipe conversions - and I find I don't even need to bother chilling the dough to press it out in a buttered cookie sheet.  It is easier to work with if I chill the dough first, but I'm generally looking for ways to cut corners.  Either way you do it, this cooks up wonderfully tasty and nice and firm. Perfect for making sturdy gingerbread houses that can hold a great quantity of candy. There's always little extra bits that we snack on.  You can even chill, roll and cut for shaped gingerbread cookies.  I've posted my instructions for gingerbread cookies here.  Same batter, just cooked for less time.  Have fun and enjoy! 

The instructions here make mini gingerbread houses, but you can easily scale up the measurements and make one big house instead.  We love making little houses since it means everyone gets to decorate their own gingerbread house.  

Gingerbread House Recipe & Frosting (another family recipe)

Makes 3-4 small gingerbread houses - yes, you can make larger houses with this recipe.  Give the dough an extra 5 minutes of baking if you're going to make larger houses.

Gingerbread:

Butter a cookie sheet OR line it with parchment paper and butter the edges (MY Favorite way).  Preheat oven to 300F/130C.  (If you'd rather chill your dough, you can wait and preheat your oven later)

Prepare the dough as followings and chill for an hour or two (chilling dough is optional!)  I find if I work quickly I can just press it in the pan and cook right away, which saves me time - but it is easier to work with and not as sticky if you chill it first)

In a mixer, combine with a paddle attachment (not a whisk attachment!): 
2 3/4 c Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix (OR  1 ½ cup brown rice flour, ½ cup corn starch, ½ cup tapioca starch, ¼ cup potato starch + 1 tsp xanthan gum – OR your favorite GF flour mix (provided it contains some xanthan gum))
1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cloves

Add and mix in until nicely combined: 

1/2 cup oil

2/3 cup molasses

1 egg:

Press out dough on greased cookie sheet (no thicker than ½ inch) and bake for 25-30 minutes.  (You can use buttered hands to help press down if you find it sticky)

After removing the pan from the oven, place house patterns on hot gingerbread and cut immediately!  (House pattern below)

Carefully lift out pieces and cool on cake rack.   The gingerbread will be very hard when cool (if not, the pieces can be put back on the cookie sheet and baked another 5-10 minutes).  Note: the roof sections can break off if the dough is not thoroughly baked.

House pattern: make out of card stock or cardboard (I usually just cut apart a cereal box)

Roof: 3 x 2 ½ inches (cut 2)

Front: 3 x 2 ½ inches (cut roofline and door)

Back: same as front but without door

Sides: 2 x 2 ½ inches (cut 2)

Royal Icing:

Beat the following in a grease-free bowl until stiff: (If needed, add a bit more confectioner’s sugar (very slowly) until desired thickness)

3 egg whites (make sure NO yolk is in whites)

1 lb. confectioner’s sugar

½ tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

Keep bowl covered at all times with damp cloth because this icing dries fast and becomes hard (the better to hold houses covered in candy together!)  You can pipe this frosting on, or you can just use a knife to apply (which we tend to do since we're working with little kids). Enjoy!

Candy ready for decorating!

Eating is the best part.

We love making tiny houses so everyone gets to decorate their own mini gingerbread house!

Gingerbread House Recipe & Frosting - Gluten Free! By Successfully Gluten Free!

Fabulous Sourdough Waffles - Gluten-Free!

These are delicious - really really delicious.  And so easy, too!!!  It seems common to recommend making pancakes to use up excess sourdough starter, but I have found I prefer these light and crispy waffles.  I find that whereas the pancakes have more of a whole-wheat taste to them, these just taste like wonderfully crispy and flavorful waffles.  We have loved them!  They're great, too, because I freeze any extras, and they can be re-heated in the toaster oven anytime! Enjoy!

Light and fluffy gluten-free sourdough waffles with maple syrup. Yum!

Fabulous Sourdough Waffles - Gluten-Free!
Makes 15-18 waffles
(My waffle iron makes 6 waffles at a time, and I can fill it almost 3x)

Mix in a 4 cup tupperware the night before you want your waffles:
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Add and mix in, just until combined:
1 cup water (filtered, if your water contains chlorine)
1 cup gluten-free sourdough starter

Put the tupperware lid on tightly, and let rest overnight at room temperature. This mixture will grow naturally overnight due to the yeast, so make sure your container is at least a 4 cup container and can be fully closed.

I find the mixture tends to look like this in the morning - nicely filled with air pockets.

In the morning, preheat your waffle iron.
Mix together in a large bowl:
2 eggs
5 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Mixture from last night (starter/flour/water)

Here's the batter, ready for cooking.  If desired, you can add finely diced apples (option below).

Apple-Cinnamon Waffle Option: 
After mixing, fold in:
1-2 apples, peeled and finely diced

Butter waffle iron lightly each time you use it.  Cook batter in pre-heated waffle iron until nicely browned and crispy.  Remove from waffle iron and place on cooling rack (I do this even when making my favorite plain or apple-cinnamon waffles, because it keeps them from ever getting soggy on the bottom, especially if I make extras to freeze).

My waffle iron makes 6 waffles at a time, and I find I fill the waffle iron almost 3x for this recipe.  The waffles on the right are apple-cinnamon waffles on the cooling rack.

Best served fresh with maple syrup, or jam, or any topping you enjoy on your waffles!
Once cooled, you can freeze these in a ziploc bag and re-heat in a toaster oven for quick breakfasts.
Enjoy!!!

Apple-cinnamon waffles with syrup. Yum!

Crumble Topped Apple Pie

This is a fun alternative to the normal apple pie that has a top crust.  The crust is simply replaced with a crumble-topping.  For me, this pie is a mix of the apple crumble I ate in England and an apple pie - which really does sound like a tasty combination for an apple pie alternative! Enjoy!

The pie pictured here was 50% larger than normal since I was using a big, deep-dish pie pan. But, the recipe below is for a normal pie dish and normal baking time. 

French Apple Pie

Preheat oven to 425F.

Make 1/2 recipe of my Buttermilk Pie Pastry (or make whole recipe and use the other half for another pie or quiche). Press into pie dish.  Set aside while you prepare the filling.

Roll out your dough between two sheets of plastic wrap into a circle-like shape. You can easily fix up the crust once it's in your dish.

I made a 1 1/2 recipe for a deep-dish pie in these pictures since I had already used up my normal pie dishes, so this pie was a bit bigger than my normal pie.

Mix in a large bowl:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt

Peel and slice 8 medium apples.  Toss in sugar mixture.  Pour into prepared pie shell. *Note: I tend to forget this, but it's best to create a flat layer of apples rather than a mound of apples for a nicer looking pie at the end.

The apples should be evenly coated.

I left these apples in a bit of a mound, flatten them out in the pan for a nicer looking pie since the apples sink a bit during cooking.

Mix in a bowl:
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup white rice flour 
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon

Chop in with pastry cutter, until you have fine crumbs:
1/2 cup butter

Sprinkle over apples.  

Bake pie ~20 minutes at 425F.  Remove from oven and cover edges of crust with foil. 
Bake another 10-15 minutes, and loosely cover entire pie with foil. 
Bake a final 10-15 minutes. 
(You want to aim for a total cooking time of ~ 45 minutes).

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.  This pie is best served warm, and will reheat nicely in the oven.

Enjoy!

This pie was a bit more browned than normal because it was 50% larger than my normal pies, so it required a bit more baking time. 

Gluten-Free Sourdough Brown Bread

Breads labelled as 'brown bread' often get their color from the molasses used as a sweetener.  I find brown bread has a richer, sweeter taste and is better suited to eating with savory sandwiches or toasted with butter.   This sourdough brown bread recipe is nice and airy.  It's got a thin crust and isn't a loaf of thick-crusted rustic sourdough bread (although that's on my to-do list).  It works wonderfully for slicing very thin, or slicing thickly.  The one thing I've tried to do while cooking with GF sourdough starter is to find ways to use the sourdough starter as the only method for the dough-rising.  In other words, I don't want to be adding any extra yeast to help the dough rise.  This does mean a longer rise-time, but other than the wait-time, this recipe is a cinch!  I used it in a brunch casserole and it was absolutely delicious - I'll be posting that soon. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Sourdough Brown Bread
Based off a recipe from Cultures for Health

Butter 2 bread pans. 

Mix in a large bowl:
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt

In a mixer, combine:
1/2 cup gluten-free sourdough starter
1 cup lukewarm water
3 eggs, room temperature
1 Tbsp molasses
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
4 Tbsp oil

Add in dry ingredients and beat 1-2 minutes, until nice and smooth.   Divide dough into two buttered loaf pans.  The pans should each be 1/2 full.  Cover with plastic wrap.

Fill 1/2 full, then cover completely with plastic wrap

Set in a warm location to rise 4 hours (yes, 4 hours).  You won't see much evidence of rising until at least 2 hours have passed. 

After rising.  Because the rise is so slow, I find whether you wait 4, 5 or 6 hours, it won't be a problem, which is nice if you leave it to rise while you go out somewhere. 

Once dough has risen (it won't quite double in size, as you can see in the pictures), bake at 350F for ~ 45 minutes. 

Bread hot from the oven.

Remove from pans and cool on cooling rack.  Slice and enjoy!
We like it best warmed or toasted.  It's great used for sandwiches!