Czech It Out-I Made Kolaches!

I'm not Czech. But we lived in various Linn County locations on several separate occasions growing up and I still have family there, so I grew up on kolaches. The most delicious of all the Czech pastries. And WAY better than Dutch Letters from Pella. Seriously.

But I digress...

I have been craving kolaches since they were removed from my life ten years ago, and this week, I went on a hunt for a recipe that I could make and eat. Success! Thank you Pinterest search engine.

My sister also grew up loving kolaches and she DOES get to immerse herself in their deliciousness whenever we are anywhere near the Czech Village in Cedar Rapids, so I made two flavors so she could have some too! The blueberry ones are mine (she hates blueberries) and the cherry ones are hers (I can't have cherries). Dynamic Duo strikes again :)

I found a recipe for gluten free and dairy free kolaches and made them egg free too by using egg replacer in the place of the eggs (hence it's name and purpose). The original recipe is at allergysensativekitchen.com and I did have to make several alterations to make this work for me.

Czech Kolaches 

(gluten, dairy, egg free and low-FODMAP friendly)

Ingredients*:
3 c gluten free flour (divided)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup vanilla coconut milk
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp Ener-G Food Egg Replacer mixed with 4 T warm water (equivalent of 2 eggs)
Fruit Pie Filling of your choice**

*Have all of the ingredients at room temperature for best results
**The only fruit pie filling I could use was the Hy-Vee brand because all of others had corn syrup as an ingredient. If you're hard core, you can make your own pie filling. I am not.

                       

 I use Egg Replacer in meatballs, baked goods, etc. You obviously can't make an omelette with it. Flour was on sale this morning at Fareway. Five pounds for only $12 :) Classic.

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, heat coconut milk, butter, sugar and salt until 110-115 degrees (this took about 90 seconds in my microwave.
2. In a mixer bowl, add 1 and 1/4 cups of the gluten free flour and 2 and 1/2 tsp yeast. Then mix in warm mix mixture. Beat to combine.
3. Add the egg replacer and beat for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the gluten free flour (1 and 3/4 cups). Mix until dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and make a soft dough ball.

4.  Use a scoop and place dough on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Use the back of the scoop or a spoon to create an indentation in the center of each one. Let rise for 45 minutes until almost double in size.  When dough has doubled you might need to gently press the centers in again to make room for the filling.

                          

5. Spoon a little filling into the center of each pastry and bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove and cool completely on a cooling rack. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.

I've had two already this morning (I have to have energy for my run, right? :) ) and I will be making this recipe again. I had to bake it a little longer than the original recipe called for, but I did have two pans in at the same time and my oven is electric so takes longer anyway.

Happy [Chicken Pot] Pi[e] Day! 3.14.16

My favorite of the weird 'let's make every day a celebration' holidays is Speak Like a Pirate Day on September 19. And yes...I know that date without looking it up. But I do enjoy a clever idea...and so today is Pi day. And it is warm and humid today, so not exactly the best day to make something like chicken pot pie, but I was craving it, and I needed to use up some chicken and some carrots, and thus...

Happy [Chicken Pot] Pi[e] Day it is!

I used Fresh Love Homestead's recipe as a start, but had to tweak it based on what I had at my house at 7:30pm tonight and what I could eat.

I decided to make it adorable by cutting out baby hearts to vent the crust, but you definitely don't need to make that step. I also discovered I no longer have a rolling pin, so I put waxed paper down on my table and rolled it out with a glass and spread the dough a bit more with my hands. Whatever works, right?! Also, you're welcome to make individual pot pies in ramekins, but I....don't. So I used a 9 inch glass pie pan.

Chicken Pot 3.14 (gluten free, dairy free, egg free, low-FODMAP)

Prep time 1 hour, ten minutes

Cook time 25-30 minutes

Oven temp 400 degrees F

Ingredients

Crust

1 cup gluten-free all purpose baking flour (Bob's Red Mill 1:1 GF is what I use)

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp sugr

6 T dairy free butter, cold and cubed*

2 T ice water

Filling

6 carrots, peeled and diced

2 green onions, chopped (only use the green parts and toss the white part)

salt and pepper to taste

red pepper flakes, to taste

1 lb chicken breast, cubed

1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

dash of nutmeg

1 c chicken stock

1 T dairy free butter

1/2 c white wine (or apple cider vinegar...but let's get real here)

3/4 c coconut milk (unsweetened)

2 1/2 T gluten free flour

1 c cut green beans, frozen

"Egg" Wash

1/2 T vegan mayonnaise

1/2 T coconut milk or water

*I decided when I was home for lunch that I was going to make this tonight, so I cut up the butter and stuck it in the freezer all afternoon while I was at work.

Directions

1. Make the Crust: Put the flour, salt and sugar in your food processor and pulse once to mix. Add frozen butter, and pulse until coarse. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, and pulse until your dough is slightly sticky. Form dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

This knife is older than I am, I stole it from my mom, and she's
never getting it back. 

Cube it up and throw it in the freezer

Just showing off my new food processor. You all know what this
looks like when flour is in a processor.

Product Placement: Arcadia Cafe in Ames is AMAZING.
Also-to the left is some of my chicken broth that I pulled out of
the freezer for this recipe.

2. Saute Your Veggies: Drizzle a little bit of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and combine carrots, green onions, and diced chicken and cook until chicken is done. I also added salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes at this step. Once cooked, place in a bowl and set aside.

Even my salt and pepper shakers are Fiesta. Don't worry about it.

3. Create Your Sauce: In the same pan, combine chicken stock, butter, sage, thyme, and nutmeg. Bring to a light boil and add coconut milk, wine and flour. Whisk until smooth, and leave on the heat long enough to thicken (about five minutes). I did not read this properly and added the milk at the same time. Nothing traumatic happened, so don't worry if you also don't do this in the right order.

Smelled amazing here.

4. Combine Your Filling: Add your frozen green beans to the pan as well as the chicken and carrots mixture. Mix well and season with salt and pepper if you think it needs more. Pour into the pie pan. I also feel like mushrooms would be good in this, but didn't have any lying around.

Ready for it's fancy hat.

5. Add the Crust and Bake: Roll out your crust on lightly [gf] floured surface. Brush the 'egg' wash over the top of the crust. This will help it turn golden-brown when baked. Poke some air vents into the crust to allow for ventilation, and put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. I decided to cut three little hearts out of the top of the crust to create vents and then add a 3D topper. I'm kind of almost exactly like Martha Stewart. Without the criminal record.

Before the 'egg' wash. I VERY CAREFULLY flipped the crust over
from the wax paper to avoid massive amounts of crust all over
my floor. It was mostly successful.

Pie = Love. Love is All Around. Love is All You Need.
Also...Pie is All You Need.

Enjoy! And Happy Pi Day.

Carrot Cake Granola

This weekend will be all about filling the freezer and fridge with meals for the week. I have a chicken cooking in the slow cooker right now so that I can make chicken broth this afternoon (store-bought broths are definitely NOT #kimfriendly) and I made a batch of granola to get me through breakfasts this week.

When I lived in the Twin Cities, I also had a part-time job working at a gluten-free bakery that is no longer open (RIP Cooqi). I would go in once a week at night and/or on Sunday afternoons to make the cookie dough batter for the week, cake batter if needed and all of the biscotti and granola. I got really good at granola and I had a craving for it this week. Also, it's carrot cake. The greatest of all cakes.

I make a really good carrot cake for Easter (that is not what it looks like) and this recipe sounded super good and super easy. And it was. Original recipe is from Gimme Some Oven and I didn't have to make any alterations. I keep a giant thing of coconut oil because I use it for cooking and for sugar scrubs.

Carrot Cake Granola

Ingredients:
2 cup gluten free old-fashioned oats (I had quick-cooking oats, they're just a bit smaller)
1 cup grated or shredded carrots (I have a food processor, but just used my box grater for faster clean up)
1 cup pecans
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of cloves
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the oats, carrots, pecans, walnuts, and coconut in a large bowl.

Dry ingredients are mixed. Excuse the mess...working kitchen.

3. Mix the maple syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves together in a small bowl and then pour over the oats mix and stir. I use my hands to make sure that everything gets coated.*

Wet ingredients and spices

 4. Spread the mixture out evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, pulling the mixture out halfway through and mixing it with a spatula. I find that using a solid metal spatula works best, and just drag the granola away from the sides, and then stir and re-spread for uniform baking.

This is halfway through baking. If you like your granola crispy,
bake it longer than 30 minutes

5. Remove and let cool until the granola reaches room temperature. Then add raisins and toss to combine.

6. Enjoy over yogurt if you can have it, with milk (I pour a bit of coconut milk [boxed NOT canned] over mine), or if you can find it and can eat it, I bet it would be amazing as a topping for cinnamon ice cream.**

It's close to Easter, so you have to eat it with pastel Fiesta.

*Trick I learned from the bakery. I'd have oats up to my elbows every time. Don't worry-we used gloves. Safety first.
**I've only ever seen cinnamon ice cream during the holidays-and it might just be an Iowa thing.

Your whole house (or at least your kitchen) will smell like carrot cake when this is cooking. Enjoy and Happy Spring! We're grey and cold here in Central Iowa, but hopefully it's warmer where you are.