Crumb Topped Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

If there is one thing my husband loves, it's dessert. You may have noticed that I have entered more dessert recipes on here than anything else! That being said I am always trying to perfect a recipe or come up with a new one. In the case of this recipe I played around with the filling just a tad and then modified my pie crust to be gluten free. When my husband was told that he could no longer eat wheat gluten we thought it would be impossible, but slowly I have been coming up with some recipes that are proving to be family favorites (even for my teenagers).

Crust - see Flaky Single Crust Pastry (*note - if you are making this gluten free you will need to prebake the crust for 10 minutes to ensure a thoroughly cooked crust on the bottom)

Filling
3 cups sliced rhubard
2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour (you can use all-purpose or a gluten free mix. I prefer Tom Sawyer brand)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crumb Topping
1 cup flour ((you can use all-purpose or a gluten free mix. I prefer Tom Sawyer brand)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
1 tablespoon butter, cut into smaller pieces for topping pie before baking

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Stir all filling ingredients together until well coated and allow to sit for 45 minutes. Pour into prepared crust. Combine crumb topping ingredients and mix together by hand until crumbly. Top pie with crumb mixture and dot the top with 1 tablespoon cold butter bits. Bake for 55 minutes, or until bubbly. Allow to cool before serving for easier slicing.

Sweet Cornbread

Ever since my husband was diagnosed with Celiac disease two years ago I have been experimenting with various recipes and trying to modify them so that they would be gluten fee and he could enjoy eating normally again. It is hard to fill a man up on only grilled meat and veggies! Men want bread, heck we all crave it! Here is a wonderful cornbread recipe that I came up with this weekend. Now, I am a southern gal, born to southerners but raised in the North, and I have had my fair share of great cornbread. This is the closest I have come to making something that even my southern Mamaw would eat, and that says a lot!




1 1/4 cups gluten free flour mix (I use Tom Sawyer's brand and it is by far the best I have tried)
3/4 cup gluten free cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1/4 vegetable oil
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon honey
1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Pour oil into a cast iron skillet and place into oven to heat up. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, honey, and egg, mixing until dry ingredients are moistened. Add hot oil and carefully stir until blended. Pour batter into pan and bake for 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm

Heavenly Gluten Free Blueberry Crisp

4 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup gluten free flour mix (I use Tom Sawyer's Mix)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 11x7 baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle blueberries with 1 TBSP. flour mixture and toss to coat. Pour blueberries into baking dish. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour mixture with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add in the butter by hand and rub mixture between your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. Layer the crumb mixture over the blueberries. Bake in the oven until bubbly, about 40 minutes. Serve with non-dairy whipped topping. Makes 4 generous servings.

*You may also use frozen blueberries but you will need to increase your cook time to approximately 50 minutes.

Gluten Free Butterscotch Blondies

These "un-brownies" are chewy and full of pecans and butterscotch chips. They are very sweet and go great with a big dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream...Yummy!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. gluten free baking powder
1 1/4 cups gluten free flour mixture (I use Tom Sawyer's)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butterscotch baking chips

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment, overlapping sides, to prevent sticking (you can also heavily spray with gluten free non-stick spray). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized pan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, stirring until well blended and the mixture just begins to bubble (similar to making a pecan pie). Remove from heat. Whisk eggs and yolk together with vanilla. Pour in the eggs in a steady stream, while whisking constantly to prevent scrambling. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk flour into the egg mixture. Fold in pecans and butterscotch chips. Spread into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes (5 minutes less for dark coated pans). Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Lift parchment out and cut when cooled.

Molten Spiced Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients:
4 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. Cabernet Sauvignon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter 4 custard cups and place on a baking sheet. Microwave chocolate and butter on HIGH for 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is melted. Stir in wine, vanilla and sugar until blended. Whisk in eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly into dishes. Bake for 12 minutes, until edges are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute. Loosen edges with a sharp knife. Invert onto serving dish. Sprinkle with extra confectioners sugar.
For an extra special touch you can make a raspberry puree and drizzle onto the plate before inverting the cake. Serve hot.

Blonde Brownies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
4 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in saucepan. Place brown sugar in mixing bowl and add melted butter; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, and dry ingredients, mixing well. Pour into a 13 x 9 greased baking dish. Top with chocolate chips. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Hot Artichoke Crabmeat Dip

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonaise
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8 oz. lump crabmeat, chopped
1/3 cup finely sliced green onion
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/3 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine cream cheese and mayonaise; mix well and add crushed garlic. In a separate bowl, mix artichokes and crabmeat. Add Parmesan cheese, green onion, lemon zest and black pepper. Combine mixtures together and spoon mixture into a greased casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown around edges. Sprinkle with red pepper and additional green onions. Serve hot with buttery crackers or toast points.

Flaky Single Crust Pastry

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1/4 cup Crisco shortening
1 egg yolk1 tsp. vinegar
ice water

In large bowl, combine flour with salt. With pastry blender cut in butter and shortening until in fine crumbs. In 1 cup measure, whisk egg yolk with vinegar; add enough ice water to make 1/3 cup.
Gradually sprinkle egg mixture over flour mixture, stirring briskly with a fork until pastry holds together. Press into disc shape; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hours or until chilled or up to 3 days.
*To make this recipe gluten free I substituted Tom Sawyer's brand gluten free flour mix and chilled for 3 hours. When you roll this crust out it will not have the same consistency as a regular pie crust, this one will be softer and require a bit more of your flour mix for dusting. It also sticks to your rolling surface so I have had to press it into the pie plate and form by hand. It seems that with the delicate process of rolling it out followed by the hand pressing I still end up with a beautifully flaky crust.
**I use pie weights while prebaking to prevent it from falling down in the oven. Bake at 425 for 8-14 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Chicken and Figs in Puff Pastry

Ingredients:
4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast, pounded slightly thin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 sprigs fresh finely chopped rosemary
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 sheets puff pastry (Pepperidge Farms)
8 slices Italian Fontina cheese, slices should be 2 to 3 inches square and 1/2 inch thick
1 jar fig preserves (sold at Meijer's)
1 egg mixed with 1 Tbsp. water, for egg wash

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary. Cut each piece of chicken in in half, giving you 8 equal portions. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly brown the chicken on both sides, 5 minutes total. Remove from heat.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut pastry sheets into 8 equal pieces. Place a piece of cheese on each pastry square and top with spoonfuls of fig preserves and the chicken pieces. Brush outer edge of pastry with egg wash, pinch and seal the dough up and over the meat and cheese, crimp to seal. Flip the pastry packets over and brush the tops with remaining egg wash. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with a spring mix salad for a nice lunch or add rice pilaf for an elegant dinner.

Sunday Beef Stew

Ingredients:
2 pounds lean beef (preferably tenderloin) cubed
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
4 cups beef broth
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 pkg. Lipton beefy onion soup mix
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
3 large carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 sm. can sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Lightly dredge beef in flour, shake off excess. Heat oil and butter in Dutch oven. Add beef, sear quickly browning on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Add onions and small amount of beef broth to deglaze pan. Add celery, carrot and garlic. Saute 2 minutes and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and then cover and cook on medium low until veggies are crisp tender. Remove 2 cups broth, mix water and cornstarch until smooth then add to reserved broth, stirring quickly. Return broth and meat to pot. Simmer until slightly thickened. Served with crispy French bread.

Chicken 'N Dumplings

Stock Ingredients:
1 large fryer chicken, cut up or 10 chicken thighs with skin
1 celery stalk, cut into large pieces
1 carrot, cut into large pieces
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 tsp. pepper
Water

Soup Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
4 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup flour
Reserved broth
1 32 oz. box chicken broth
salt
pepper
1 tsp. fresh thyme

Dumpling Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick mix
2/3 cup milk

1. Combine stock ingredients in Dutch oven; add enough water to cover chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until chicken is done.
2. Remove chicken and let stand until cool enough to handle. Remove skin from chicken and tear away meat from bones, set aside. Strain broth and return to dutch oven.
3. Add Olive oil to Dutch oven and saute carrots, celery and onion until tender. Add salt and pepper.
4. In separate pan melt butter, add flour and stir quickly. Add 1/2 reserved broth slowly, stirring constantly. Add to carrot mixture, stirring. Add remaining broth, chicken bouillon, and thyme. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
5. Mix together dumpling ingredients and add by tablespoonful into pot. Simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, cover and simmer for 10 more minutes. Serve immediately. Yield 6 servings