Saturday, January 22, 2011

Texas Caviar

This recipe came from one of my sisters...I don't remember which one. The name kind-of cracks me up, but it makes some tasty stuff!

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white corn, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, chopped
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 large handful of cilantro, chopped
1 ripe tomato, diced

Dressing:
2 cloves fresh minced garlic
1/4 to 1/2 c olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 c red wine vinegar
Fresh ground salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine all of the above to taste and serve with tortilla chips.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Crepes (Gluten Free)

Baking without gluten is something I've done very little of. When I have tried, more often then not I've been disappointed. It's just never the same. And I find hard to spend time and money trying things that in the end leave a lot to be desired. I know I just need to bite the bullet and start experimenting if I'm ever going to find any gf baking recipes I really like.

Last night I decided I wanted to find a good gf crepe recipe. I searched online and settled on trying this one from thebakingbeauties.com. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out really well!


Ingredients:
1/2 c rice flour
1/2 c tapioca starch
1/2 c cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp potato flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 c milk
2 eggs
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
butter

Directions:
    1. In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
    2. In a larger bowl, combine all wet ingredients.
    3. Combine the wet & dry ingredients, whisking until nearly smooth (a few lumps are alright).
    4. In a hot frying pan (about medium heat) pour approximately 3/4 cup of batter in the middle of the pan. Lift the pan & turn it to distribute the batter over the entire pan. You want your batter to cover the entire bottom of the frying pan when you are done.
    5. Once there are little holes and air bubbles forming in the top of your pancake, using a spatula, carefully flip the crepe to brown the other side. This does not take long to cook, because they are so thin.
     Allison's Additional Notes:
    1. My husband cooked these, as he's the crepe cooking pro. He puts a little butter on the pan before pouring each crepe. We found that towards the end of cooking, the batter was much thicker, and the last crepe was a little rubbery. I think the cornstarch started settling to the bottom of the bowl as he cooked the other crepes. Next time he'll whisk the batter in between cooking each crepe to prevent settling.
    2. We like our crepes with a few different topping combos: cinnamon and sugar, powdered sugar and lemon juice, Nutella and raspberries, or jam and sour cream.

    Tuesday, January 4, 2011

    Key Lime Pie

    I made this from a recipe found allrecipes.com...one where everyone gave it 4-5 stars, and then explained all the changes they made. I made one of the modified versions. It was delicious, and made me wish I had ripe key limes all year round.

    Ingredients:

    Crust
    1 package Pamela's Pecan Shortbread Cookies (gf)
    1/4 c sugar

    Filling
    4 egg yolks, beaten
    2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
    1 c key lime juice

    Directions:
    1. Crush the cookies to crumbs by either pulsing in a food processor or placing the cookies in a ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. They crumble easily.
    2. Combine the crumbs with sugar, then press into a pie pan and bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
    3. Thoroughly mix the filling ingredients, pour into pie crust, and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving, topped with whipped cream.