I love Semlor

Swedish Semlor

These Swedish almond paste and whipped cream filled cardamon buns are traditionally served during Fat Tuesday. Nowadays, Swedes are happily inhaling them as often as they can be found. Semla is a cardamon-spiced bread, which has its top cut off and insides scooped out, then filled with an almond paste, and topped with whipped cream. The top is dusted with some confectioners' sugar.

Ingredients:1 1/4 cups sugar1 1/4 cups GF flour blend2 tbsp GF psyllium powder (Metamucil) 2 tsp baking powder2 tsp ground cardamon 1/8 tsp salt4 tbsp butter, melted3 eggs, lightly whisked1 1/4 cups cultured Kefir, or buttermilk

6 ice-cubes

2 cups heavy cream1 tbsp vanilla pudding mix

Filling:5 tbsp heavy cream7 oz GF almond paste

Decoration:confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a cookie sheet on the lowest oven rack. 

Line cupcake pan with 8 large paper liners. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, GF flour, psyllium, baking powder, cardamon and salt. Add the melted butter, eggs and Kefir, and mix until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Divide batter evenly among the 8 liners. 

Place cupcake pan on the pre-heated cookie sheet. Add 6 ice-cubes on the cookie sheet, and quickly, close the oven door. Bake until cupcakes are lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes. Do not open oven door the first 15 minutes. Transfer to wire to cool completely under a clean kitchen towel.

Whip the heavy cream together with the vanilla pudding mix until the cream forms soft peaks.Make filling: grate almond paste and mix with the heavy cream. 

Cut the tops of the cupcakes. Using a spoon, scoop out about a teaspoon of the inside of each cupcake. Fill the wholes with the almond paste. Spoon dollops of the whipped cream on each cupcake. Replace the tops. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve! 

Smaklig Måltid~ Bon Appetite

Simple Sunday Dessert ~ Blackberry Tart

I make this blackberry tart because it reminds me of summer! Right about now, I need a reminder that it's coming. Soon. Nothing does the trick like blackberries and raspberries. These lovely berries fill me with memories; of my mother picking raspberries in our yard and making pies, of picnics on the beach, and black raspberry ice-cream. I make sure to buy plenty of fresh berries during the summer months, at local farmer's markets, and freeze them. This way, I'll always have 'fresh' berries on hand. I bake them up in pies, cakes, and muffins during the long winter months.

This versatile tart bakes up lovely. It fills the house with a wonderful fruit scent - a promise of sun and warmth of summer. It's easy to make, can be made with whatever fruit you have, frozen, or fresh and in season. The grocery store usually have an excellent selection of frozen berries. I like to serve this tart plain. But try serving with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream.

Blackberry Tart

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

3 tbsp heavy cream, or milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lime zest

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup almond meal/flour

1/2 cup garbanzo flour

3 tbsp tapioca starch

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

shredded coconut, for pan

2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter a 9-inch springorm pan, or a 11 x 9-inch tart pan. Line the pan with shredded coconut, make sure it covers the bottom and sides of the pan.

In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, then heavy cream, vanilla extract, and lime zest.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flours, tapioca, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Beat in flour mixture on low speed until batter comes together. Spread in pan.

Arrange the berries on top of the batter. Sprinkle with lime juice. Mix 2 tbsp sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon, and sprinkle over the blackberries.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until edges are golden and the center is set. Test for doneness by inserting a cake tester or toothpick into center of tart. It should come out clean.

Cool tart in pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pan. Remove sides from pan. Serve. Take a bite, close your eyes, and think of long summer days.

Next blog will be from Sweden. I'll be there for 2 months teaching gluten-free cooking, and enjoying time with family.

Smaklig måltid ~ Bon appetit!

Cooking under pressure - Turkey Meatballs with Marinara Sauce

I bought a new machine for my kitchen. A pressure cooker. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I love all kinds of kitchen nicknacks and tools, and am always looking for more additions to my kitchen repertoire. But, after I acquired this fairly expensive device, I let it sit in the hallway closet for about 3 months. I didn't even take it out of the box. I was scared. Fearful that it would blow up in my face. A friend told me that, no, it would not. These modern pressure cookers are safe, designed for proper release of pressure. Still intimidated, but almost convinced, I, of course, turned to the web. And read on-line that, yes, she was right. Safe as can be. I unwrapped the large package. Mm...sleek and beautiful. It'll look great next to my food mixer and processor.

So, I gave it a go. First, using the pressure cooker, I made a wonderful Tomato Sauce, thick and rich in flavor. While the sauce was doing its thing, I prepared the turkey meatballs. Then added the uncooked meatballs to the sauce, and put the pressure on again for another 4 minutes. That was it. Done! With gluten-free pasta and a side salad, dinner was served! If you prefer, it's easy to convert the recipe and make it on the stove-top.

For an easy dessert, we had vanilla ice-cream with hot fudge. Another quickie (no, not that kind) recipe!

Turkey Meatballs with Marinara Sauce

adapted from Cuisinart Recipe Booklet ~ Pressure Cooker

Ingredients for Marinara Sauce

2 tsp dried italian herbs; oregano, thyme, rosemary etc. (use what you have)

a pinch of red pepper flakes

2-3 tbsp good olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

3/4 cup finely chopped carrots

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 tbsp fresh, finely chopped basil, or 2 tsp dried basil

1/2 cup dry red wine

3 cans (14-15 ounces each) diced tomatoes

1 can (6-ounce) tomato paste

1/2 cup water

2 bay leaves

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions for Sauce

Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the pressure cooking pot. Select Browning and let oil heat for 3 minutes. When oil is hot, add dried herbs, chopped onion, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring for 4-5 minutes until the onion becomes translucent.

Stir in wine and cook for another 3-5 minutes to reduce by about half.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, bay leaf, sugar, salt, and pepper, and stir. Turn off.

Cover the pressure cooker with the lid, and lock lid in place. Select High Pressure and set timer for 20 minutes. When beep sounds, use Natural Pressure Release. When float valve drops, remove lid, tilting away from you to allow steam to disperse. Stir.

Prepare the turkey meatballs while the tomato sauce is cooking.

Turkey Meatballs

Makes 35 meatballs

Ingredients

1 lbs ground turkey

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/2 tsp dried red paprika/pepper

1 egg

3 tbsp dried Gluten-Free breadcrumbs

2 tsp dried mixed italian herbs; oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary etc. (same as above)

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg, or dried ground nutmeg

1 tbsp fresh, finely chopped parsley

1/3 cup grated parmesan

Directions

In a large bowl, add all the ingredients.

Mix until blended. Wet hands lightly, and roll the batter into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place the meatballs on a large platter or tray.

Place in refrigerator. When Marinara Sauce is ready, add the meatballs to the sauce.

Stir gently to cover the meatballs with the sauce. Cover with the lid, and lock lid in place. Select High Pressure and set timer for 4 minutes. When beep sounds, use Natural Pressure Release. When float valve drops, remove lid, tilting away from you to allow steam to disperse. Stir.

Cook the pasta. Ladle the turkey meatballs and the sauce over the pasta. Serve with a delicious salad of Romaine lettuce, avocado, mango, and beets, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Bon Appetit ~

Smaklig Måltid

Voila, dinner is ready!

Pancakes - it's what's for breakfast!

Grab your whisks and fire up the griddle - it's Pancake Week!

According to www.allrecipes.com this is an ancient tradition from the Middle Ages. In preparation for Lent, people cleaned out their pantries of rich foods, like butter, eggs, and milk. They feasted on big batches of pancakes until the pantry was empty. Sounds pretty good to me. These days, many communities around the globe still follow this tradition, all the way through Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras.

Pancakes come by many names - flapjacks, hotcakes, johnnycakes, griddlecakes, blinis, blintzes, crepes. You can make them with chocolate chips, bananas, pumpkin, fresh berries, or buckwheat. And lather them with butter, honey, jam, whipped cream, chocolate ganache, sour cream & caviar. It doesn't matter - it all adds put up to good eating!

I'm particularly partial to wolfing down my breakfast pancakes with lots of Maple Syrup. The real deal, not some fake stuff. During a recent walk, my husband and I came upon a grove of Maple Trees being tapped. Each tree had a bucket attached to it. And in each bucket, drop by drop, it was being filled with tree sap. We thought it a bit early in the season to begin this process, but, maybe the Maple syrup season started earlier this year due to the unusually mild winter. From what I remember; the starch in the trunk and roots of the trees is converted to sugar that then turns into sap in the spring. When this sap is heated, the water evaporates, leaving a syrup. The American Indians collected Maple syrup and taught the European settles how to use it.

Homemade Pancakes with Maple Syrup

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa - Family Style

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Anna's GF Cake Flour Blend,* or your own favorite flour blend

2 tbsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup Kefir, or yogurt

3/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

butter

1- 2 bananas, diced, for serving, or fresh fruit and berries

Pure maple syrup

Directions

In a medium-sized bowl blend together the GF flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat together the sour cream, milk, eggs, and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ones, whisking until combined.

Melt butter in a large skillet, or griddle, over medium heat until the butter bubbles. Pour some off the pancake batter into the pan to make 4, to 6, small pancakes. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, until some bubbles appear on top and the underside is lightly browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until nicely browned. Add a little more butter to the pan, and continue until all the batter is used. Serve with maple syrup, sliced bananas, and/or fresh berries.

Anna's GF Cake Flour Blend:

2 cups brown rice flour

2 cups white rice flour

1 cup potato/or corn starch

1 1/4 cups tapioca starch

I'm grateful for this luxurious liquid gold!

Savory baked egg cups for a Valentine's Day breakfast

Thinking of my husband - my sweetie - this Sunday morning, and it being Valentine's Day soon, I decided this Sunday morning to make him a nice breakfast. We both love pancakes in all shapes and sizes; thick and hearty American ones drizzled with maple syrup, Swedish Plättar - thin and round little ones with blueberry jam, and especially French Crepes, delicate pancakes rolled and folded with your favorite filling. These wonderful wafer-thin pancakes are elegant and fun to make. One can be as creative as one wants with the filling, using something simple like butter, seasonal fruit & berries, soufflés, goat cheese, sauces, custard, jam, sorbets, ice cream, chocolate etc. Crepes can be made with either plain or sweetened batters, using different kinds of flours based on your taste. I own a great cookbook that's all about the subject - Crepes, Sweet & Savory Recipes for the Home Cook, by Lou Seibert Pappas, with lots of tempting recipes. This morning I decided to make Buckwheat Baked Egg Crepe Cups. It's a healthy and delicious dish, with mushrooms and eggs baked in a muffin pan. This recipe is also my entrance to a Swedish baking blog, Månadens Sötsak - Sweet of the Month. This terrific blog has tons of inspiring photographs and amazing Swedish recipes. Each month there is a topic and bloggers submit their favorite recipe. February's topic is Breakfast.

Crepes are easy to make gluten-free, with cornmeal, buckwheat, garbanzo, or chestnut flour. And they are so amazingly versatile. Make them for yourself & your sweetheart, or for brunch.

Crepes

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1 cup milk ( 2 1/3 dl)

1/3 cup, plus 2 tbsp water (3/4 dl)

2/3 cup Anna's Gluten-Free Cake Flour Blend,* or use your favorite GF flour blend (1 1/2 dl)

2/3 cup buckwheat flour (1 1/2 dl bovete mjöl)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp butter, melted, plus extra for the pan

Directions

Prepare the crepes. Mix all ingredients in a food processor, or by hand. By hand: blend the flours in a medium-sized bowl and add the salt. Whisk the eggs until blended, mix in the milk and water, and blend into the flour and salt; stir in the 2 tablespoons melted butter.

Gently stir the batter if it has separated. Heat a 6- or 8-inch nonstick sauce-pan over medium-high heat until hot. Melt a little butter in the pan, and coat the pan with the butter. Pour in 3-4 tablespoons of batter, tilting and rotating the pan to coat the surface. Cook until almost dry on top and lightly browned on the edges. Flip the crepe and cook the other side for about 20-40 seconds, or until lightly browned. Turn the crepe out onto a platter to cool. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more butter as needed. Stack the crepes as they are cooked. Set aside.

Baked Egg Crepe Cups

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

4 savory buckwheat crepes

butter for pan

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced (1 1/4 dl)

1 tsp fresh tarragon, or 1/4 tsp dried tarragon

3 scallions, finely chopped

4 eggs, or 3 tbsp egg white

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup heavy cream, or milk (1/2 dl)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread 4, out of 12 openings of a muffin pan, with butter. Line with a cooked crepe by placing it in the cup, taking care to press lightly against the bottom, and pleating the crepe edges on the sides of the cup. Refrigerate or freeze leftover crepes.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the mushrooms, tarragon, and scallions together. Divide the mixture into each crepe. Break 1 egg into each crepe, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon over 1 tablespoon of heavy cream, or milk over each.

Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes, or until the yolks are set but still runny inside, or longer, if you prefer cooked yolks. Let cool for 3 minutes in the pan, before removing. Serve.

Smaklig Måltid ~

Bon Appetit!

Anna's GF Cake Flour Blend*

2 cups brown rice flour (4 2/3 dl)

2 cups white rice flour (4 2/3 dl)

1 1/4 cups tapioca starch (2 2/3 dl)

1 cup potato/or corn starch (2 1/3 dl)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Winter Sunday ~ Turkey Mushroom Lasagna & Frozen Mexican Chocolate Mud Pie

On Sundays we usually relax and take it easy ~ read the paper while eating breakfast.

Go for a walk or hike in the woods.

Prepare dinner, most of the time just for the two of us; my husband & me.

Bake some delicious dessert, and then to top off the day, watch a movie. Nice way to spend the day!

This past sunday, we did just that. I love trying out new recipes and found a recipe for an amazing looking pie in Cooking Light Magazine; Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie. My challenge is always to make the recipe gluten-free. Reading through the recipe, I came to think of the frozen mud pie they serve at Joe's American Bar & Grill, which is one of my husband's favorite desserts. I've never made one, so I decided to adapt the Cooking Light recipe and make it into a Frozen Mexican Chocolate Mud Pie. I was up to the task. It was not that hard, but it did take several steps before we could dig in; bake the crust, make the filling, freeze, fill with ice-cream, freeze, fill with whipped cream, and freeze again. With dessert all set, what then, to make for dinner?? After looking through some cookbooks, I decided on Turkey Mushroom Lasagna. A combo between the recipes I found in Barefoot Contessa @ Home, and Every Day Italian by Giada De Laurentiis. Yes, it was a great dinner. The lasagna turned out fabulous, if I do say so myself, and OMG, the pie was so worth the time. Totally delicious!

Turkey Mushroom Lasagna

kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

10 oz dry gluten-free lasagna noodles, I used BiAglut PastaMia Lasagna Noodles

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/4 lb. ground turkey breast

3 cups Marinara sauce, make your own, or store-bought (I used 1 jar, 25 oz)

4 tbsp red wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp gluten-free ketchup

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp ground red pepper

1 pound portobello mushrooms

3 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tomatoes, sliced and coarsely shopped

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, or use your favorite cheese topping

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon salt. Add the lasagna noodles and cook according to package (BiAglut Noodles took 4 minutes). Make sure the noodles are al dente; the center of the pasta should remain somewhat hard so that it won't overcook and become soggy when baked). Drain, then rinse the noodles under cold water to stop the cooking. Cover lightly with a damp towel to prevent the pasta from drying out. Set aside.

Slice and chop the mushrooms to 1/4-inch thickness. Heat 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan. When the butter melts, add the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until mushrooms are tender. Set aside.

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground pepper, and sauté until turkey is lightly brown, breaking up any large clumps. Add the marinara sauce, tomato paste, garlic, wine, ketchup, and ground red pepper. Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes. Taste for extra salt and pepper, if needed. Set aside.

Spread 2 tbsp butter over a 13x9-inch baking dish.

To assemble the lasagna, spread some of the turkey-marinara sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then some of the mushrooms and some chopped tomatoes, then another layer of noodles. Repeat a layer of sauce, noodles, mushrooms and tomatoes. Top with a final layer of noodles and a thin layer of sauce. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

Bake the lasagna for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly and hot. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes and serve hot.

Frozen Mexican Chocolate Mud Pie

Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light 13: Special Edition

Crust:

1 1/2 cups gluten-free graham crackers crumbs, store-bought or make your own*

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp egg white

2 tbsp butter, melted

Canola Cooking Spray

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 3/4 cups 1% or 2% reduced-fat milk

3 oz dark chocolate, chopped, plus 1 oz for decoration

14 oz gluten-free coffee ice cream

Whipped Cream

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped

1 tbsp confectioner's sugar

pinch of kosher salt

Gluten-Free Chocolate Syrup, or Fudge Sauce; store-bought, or your own

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To prepare crust: Add graham crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, salt to the bowl of a food processor.

Pulse to blend the dry ingredients in the food processor. Add the eggs and melted butter. Pulse to blend into sticky dough. Press the crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with canola cooking spray.

Bake the pie shell for 15 minutes or until lightly toasted; cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare filling; combine sugar and next 7 ingredients (through egg yolks) in the bowl of a stand mixer, like a Cuisinart, stirring well with the whisk attachment.

Place milk in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until milk reaches 180 degrees or until tiny bubbles form around edge. Make sure not to boil the milk. Gradually add hot milk to egg mixture, whisking constantly in the mixer. Return milk mixture to the pan; cook over medium heat 10 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 3 oz of the dark chocolate; stir until smooth.

Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 10 minutes or until chocolate mixture cools, stirring occasionally.

Spoon filling into crust, and cover surface of filling with plastic warp. Freeze for 3 hours, or until set.

Remove the ice cream from freezer and soften in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Spread the ice-cream over the frozen filling. Return to freezer for 1 1/2 hours, or until set.

Spread the whipped cream over the frozen pie. Return to freezer for 1 hour, or until set.

Drizzle the pie with chocolate syrup or fudge sauce. For decoration, grate 1 oz of the dark chocolate over the pie. Return to freezer for 30 minutes, or until ready to serve.

Smaklig Måltid ~

Bon Appetit!

*Graham Crackers

1 cup Anna’s GF Cake Flour Mix, or your own favorite blend*
1 cup brown rice flour
¼ cup quinoa flour
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ cup light brown sugar
1 ¾ tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together in a food processor.

Add 10 tbsp chilled butter

Add to food processor until crumble like texture.

Add 4 tbsp honey, and 1 tsp vanilla extract, and blend.


Add 6 tbsp water, blend until forming dough. Gather the dough ball and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or overnight), covered.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Using 1/4 of the dough, work in more corn starch/ flour if necessary. Roll out on a piece of parchment paper, about 1/3-inche thickness. Cut out squares (2-3”), prick lightly with fork, and sprinkle with some sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, or until golden.

Makes 4 trays of cracker. Remove from oven, cool slightly before placing on racks. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

*Anna's GF Cake Flour Blend

2 cups brown rice flour

2 cups white rice flour

1 cup potato/or corn starch

1 1/4 cups tapioca starch