Gluten Free Steveston, B.C.

I visited Steveston, B.C. the other day to watch the filming of Once Upon a Time.

Immediately upon arriving I was fascinated with the town itself. Which unlike Storybrooke, is a thriving, bustling tourist spot with cute souvenir shops, coffee shops and a plethora of restaurants serving fish and chips lining the water.
While there, my family and I enjoyed the many gluten free options available.
For dinner after perusing the menus of several quayside restaurants, we settled on Dave's Fish and Chips (http://steveston.bc.ca/online/daves/) who served us tasty gluten free fish and chips.
They do not beer batter the fish, but instead coat it with rice flour and lightly fry it. I found it more palatable than other greasy fried fish I've had other places. It was delicate, flaky and made a nice meal.

For desert we headed over to Bell's Bake Shop for gluten free cupcakes. The frosting is what made this cupcake special for me. The actual cupcake was decent, but the frosting was a fluffy light mound of whipped butter and sugar- (not overly sweetened) with an airy texture. The cupcake itself was nothing to brag about not dry, but not moist, just okay. The link for their website is here if you want to check them out. (http://www.bellsbakeshop.com/)

There were other gluten free options as well including Paesanos Italian Restaurant which can substitute gluten free rice pasta in its dishes.
The other restaurants also had gluten free menus, but most of their options consisted of items like grilled fish, or salads which are naturally gluten free (so nothing very unique there).


I so enjoyed watching the filming of Once Upon a Time; but I don't think it would have been as special if it weren't for the tasty food.

Gluten Free, Paleo Thai Shrimp Cakes

Thai Shrimp Cakes

Tired of turning down all those delectable fried shrimp/crab cakes they serve at virtually every Thai restaurant? I am! So I made these Thai shrimp cakes and they put the restaurant's shrimp patties to shame. 

• These shrimp cakes have a Thai flair and the medley of flavors combined with the sweet tangy chili sauce really help the flavors pop.

Thai Shrimp Cakes

1 pound cooked baby shrimp

1 garlic clove

2 medium grean onions thinly sliced

1/2 tbl. lime juice

1/4 unsweetened dried coconut

2 tsp. gluten free fish sauce

2 tsp. hot chile sauce

1 1/2 tsp. grated peeled fresh ginger

1 large egg lightly beaten

Another large egg

1 cup of almond flour

Coconut oil for frying.

Place shrimp in a food processor

Put shrimp in a bowl and mix with 1/2 cup of almond flour, 1 egg, and the rest of the ingredients until well blended.

Heat coconut oil in a cast iron skill until the oil covers the bottom of the pan.

Shape the shrimp patties in to small patties and dip in the other egg 

Once it starts to sizzle put the shrimp cakes on the griddle and cook until they are golden brown on both sides.

Sweet Chili Sauce

4 tbl. honey

4 tbl. rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. grated ginger

small pinch minced garlic

1 tsp. ketchup

Stir until well blended

Gluten Free Krumkake Recipe

 With Christmas fast approaching and as a tribute to my fabulous friend who gave me the recipe for these delicious Norweigan cookies I am posting a recipe on how to make krumkager (krumkake). 

Now my friend is completely awesome. (Not to brag or anything) So I knew that if she suggested this recipe it would be fantastic! All I had to do was tweak it in order to make it gluten free. So I did.
I use my standard all-purpose gluten free flour and coconut silk eggnog in place of whipping cream. It is delicious. The only drawback is that it is rather time intesive.

4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup melted butter
1/2 cup eggnog or whipping cream
Pinch Nutmeg or Cardamon
2 1/2 cups flour

Bake in a krumkager iron on medium/high on the stove. Bake until light gold, time varies so watch closely. Use 1 tsp. of batter to each iron.
Remember- to flip the krumkager iron over about halfway through baking.
As soon as you are done baking the cookie take it off the pan with a spatula and immediately roll it into a cone shape using the end of  a rolling pin or if you have it, the special rolling cone that should come with your iron. As the cookie cools it will harden.
Eat with whipped cream or "Real Whip" a dairy free, healthy alternative to cool whip.

Check out my new blog!: glutenfreenewsy.wordpress.com

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie with Honey Sweetened Filling

Pumpkin pie (in my humble opinion) is an essential of all Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Unfortunately it would seem that nearly all pumpkin pie recipes not only are not gluten free, but also use condensed milk as one of the ingredients for the filling.

Pumpkin is thick
And sugar is sweet.
So why the need for condensed milk?
My family and I are all lactose intolerant so condensed milk definitely was not an option.
My mother had for years experimented using yogurt and/or almond milk for the pie. These pies always tasted regrettably sour.
Compounding the difficulty was my family's desire for it to be sugar free. So we tried using honey- but somehow the pies always had a slight sour taste.
I finally went to my ol' pal "Google" and typed in "sugar-free pumpkin pie filling."
I found a recipe by Martha Stewart that was not only condensed milk-free but was also sugar-free. I tweaked it slightly and managed to make a delicious honey sweetened pumpkin pie from scratch.

So Voila! Here is my Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Recipe. I use the same crust as the one for the smoked salmon tarts except I add a dash of sweetener to the dough


Pie Crust Recipe
1 cup Key Gluten Free Mix (below)    
2 Tbl. sweet rice flour
6 Tbl. cold butter
1 tsp. honey or sugar (add to dough after ingredients are all mix)
1 Egg
1 Tbl. lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.

Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Mix the flour. Cut the butter into tablespoons and add to the flour. Cut the butter in by working it into the flour with a fork or a pastry cutter. You want the butter mixed in until it is in pea sized pieces. Next make a dip (or well) in the middle of your flour. Pour in the egg and lemon juice. Mix in starting from the center and working your way out.
Take a piece of floured parchment paper and roll out your crust on it until is as thin as a piece of thickish fabric. Put it on a cookie sheet and refrigerate it for 5-10 minutes. When it is done chillin' take it back out and mold into your pie tin. (I used mini pie tins for my quiches but I would recommend using a regular sized one). Prick the crust with a fork before putting it inot the oven to bake for 10 minutes. The crust should be barely cooked, a pale golden. Put it to the side until you have prepared your filling.

Pumpking Filling
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

To prepare the pumpkin (skip if using canned pumpkin): Cut pumpkin into slices and scrape out all the seeds. Bake in the oven on cookie sheet on tinfoil at 350 degrees farenheit for 35 minutes or until soft. Let cool. Scrape out the pumpkin and blend in a blender. If possible, put pureed pumpkin through a cheese cloth in order to squeeze out any excess liquid. Finally freeze the pumpkin puree you won't be using.

To prepare filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit. Combine pumpkin puree, eggs, maple syrup, milk vanilla and salt. Stir until well blended. Pour into the pie shell and bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until set. By "set" I mean that the filling will be fairly firm and won't stick to your finger if you touch the pies surface. If the crust begins to overbake you can cover it with tinfoil.
Once it is completely baked let it cool.
Serve with icecream, whipped coconut cream, or "truewhip." Truewhip is a dairyfree, healthy alternative to cool whip that I am particularly fond of.

One-Eyed-Hindu Sandwich

My friend was telling me funny stories about when she was little. And this story is just so classic, that I feel like I have to tell you.
When my friend was little, a group of firemen came to give a demonstration on how fire drills work. My friend's mom was at the school that day as a volunteer. She stood in the back of the room with the other moms and watched as the fireman told the kids about their jobs. Then the fireman set off a fire alarm. They asked the kids if they knew what it meant. My friend's hand shot into the air and she yelled enthusiastically. "Oh Oh I know what it means"
"What's that?"
"Dinner's ready!"
.....yes....apparently my friend's Mom is not the most skilled cook. Whenever their fire alarm would go off my friends dad would joke about it saying "Dinner must be ready!"

Now I will tell you how to make a One-Eyed-Hindu Sandwich (also called Sunshine Toast). I learned this recipe from my dad. He and my Mom lived in India for six months and brought home a plethora of interesting recipes.
It is extremely easy, delicous and makes an excellent breakfast.
Ingredients:
1 piece of gluten free toast (preferably Udi's brand)
1 egg
1 tbl. butter
salt and pepper to taste



Melt the butter on a small frying pan until it starts to sizzle. As it melts, cut a hole in the middle of your piece of toast. Place the toast onto the frying pan and crack the egg into the hole. Make sure the egg yolk is in the center of the hole. Fry until both sides are golden brown.

Gluten Free Smoked Salmon Pie

 Check your pie in the oven as often as you check your phone.
 There are times when I will kick back, relax, read a book and forget that there was a little bit of goodness turning golden in the oven.
I'll forget until the smoke alarm goes off. That usually snaps me into action.

That is why you need to check on the pie as it bakes like you check on your phone. (I'm assuming you check your phone frequently. If this is not the case forget everything I just said.)
This recipe requires 14 ounces of smoked salmon, although if you want to try the more boring version you could use plain salmon.
In my opinion smoked anything is better than the plain version. I mean have you ever tried smoked mozzarella? Its pretty darn good.

Why did I decide to share this recipe? Well now its time for a blast from the past.

My family and I go to Whistler, Canada every year. And every year before I became a strict gluten freeby I would eat these scrumptious smoked salmon pastries. They were DIVINE. It was quite depressing to not be able to sink my teeth into these pastries later in my life. Enough gloom. I found a recipe for New England Salmon Pie in my Gluten-Free Baking book by Rebecca Reilly. I changed it and now I have my delicious Smoked Salmon Pie Recipe. I highly recommend using her piecrust recipe for this. However I have supplied a pie crust recipe below that uses my Key G.F. Flour Blend.

Pie Crust Recipe
1 cup Key Gluten Free Mix (below)      
2 Tbl. sweet rice flour
6 Tbl. cold butter
1 Egg
1 Tbl. lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.

Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Mix the flour. Cut the butter into tablespoons and add to the flour. Cut the butter in by working it into the flour with a fork or a pastry cutter. You want the butter mixed in until it is in pea sized pieces. Next make a dip (or well) in the middle of your flour. Pour in the egg and lemon juice. Mix in starting from the center and working your way out.
Take a piece of floured parchment paper and roll out your crust on it until is as thin as a piece of thickish fabric. Put it on a cookie sheet and refrigerate it for 5-10 minutes. When it is done chillin' take it back out and mold into your pie tin. (I used mini pie tins for my quiches but I would recommend using a regular sized one). Prick the crust with a fork before putting it inot the oven to bake for 10 minutes. The crust should be barely cooked, a pale golden. Put it to the side until you have prepared your filling.

Smoked Salmon Filling
1 Tbl. butter
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 buncho of scallions/green onions minced
2 medium potatoes boiled and masshed.
14 ounces of salmon skin and bones removed.
2 cups of cheese (to taste :)
1 egg

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
Melt the butter in a skillet and saute the onions and scallions in it until the onion is see-through. Transfer to a large bowl and add the smoked salmon, mashed potates, and cheese. Taste the mixture and add cheese and pepper and salt until it tastes just right to you. When you are done taste-testing add the egg into the mixture and mix in thoroughly.
Place the mixture in your pre-baked pie crust and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the filling is firm.

 Key Gluten Free Flour Recipe
2 cups Brown Rice Flour 
2/3 cup Tapioca Flout
1/3 cup Potato Starch

Black's Pub- in Whistler, Canada

       

  Black’s Pub has gluten free food- yummy gluten free food. It resides in the heart of Whistler Village and is an ideal place grab a bite to eat after you get off the slopes or need a break from shopping. A steady flow of foot traffic sweeps by the restaurant, even during its off-season. Since the pub is in Canada, and since lots of Australians come up there to ski, about 70% of the waiters had accents of some sort (be it Australian, Swiss, or Canadian). Our waiter called the appetizers “appies”…seriously? How rad is that?

Now about the food, let’s just say that Black’s Pub had a menu that made me smile. They offered gluten-free pasta, gluten-free pizza, and gluten-free hamburger buns. I did NOT see that coming! The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. When I explained that I was working on a food blog and I needed extra information regarding their gluten-free menu, they said I was welcome to talk to the chef. Unfortunately, once I interrogated one of the chefs I learned their weakness—they did not fry their fries in a special gluten-free fryer (try saying that seven times). This means that bread crumbs floating around in the oil could have gotten on the fries they had labeled “Gluten Free.” Those with celiac disease or intense gluten allergies beware ….Black’s Pub is not a dedicated gluten-free facility, they merely offer options with no gluten.

 This classic Whistler restaurant has a seasonal menu that is subject to change. (Don’t worry! The gluten-free options are always available). The average price of an entrée was fifteen dollars. The demand for gluten-free food is growing and Black’s Pub  first started offering options for wheat-free customers about three years ago. Each gluten free item is marked with a G.F. They also offer vegan and vegetarian options as well. The staff was friendly and helpful even when interrogated (their word not mine). I almost cried however, when I found out that the yam fries were breaded. How could such  scrumptious appetizers be banned from my list of foods I could eat?

Moving on~ My family (otherwise known as my entourage) and I, all ordered a different item off of the menu in order to taste as wide variety of items as possible.

Everyone was in agreement as to which dish was the best: THE HAMBURGERS!  The gluten-free buns were  DELICIOUS! They were not dry or crumbly but had a nice spongy texture to them. The pasta as well was fairly yummy, but nothing to rave about. They used penne noodles to substitute for the regular noodles in all of the dishes. Sadly, the pizza fell short of delighting me. It was extremely thin, almost like a tortilla. And was extremely pale as if it were not cooked through. It was not terrible though- I’ve seen worse. The reviews from my "entourage" are as follows~

The Mermaid Critic (ordered pasta) “It was delicious, ten stars”

 J’aime Fromage (ordered pizza): “I didn’t like it that much…the crust was kinda thin.”

Hypo-allergenic Carnivore (ordered a burger wrapped in a salad wrap): “It was good!”

Picky Patrice (ordered a burger and sampled the pizza and pasta as well): “My favorite was the hamburger because of the bun: it was very soft and airy and spongy. It wasn’t dense and didn’t have a  hard crust. I did not think a whole lot of the gluten-free pizza…it was white, probably mostly tapioca.

Pizza Pete/Healthy Harry (ordered Caesar Salad and sampled the burger): “I liked the hamburger bun I thought it was very good. It was exceptional”

A big THANK YOU to Black’s Pub for offering gluten free options!