Potato Pancakes My Way: Gluten Free and Dairy Free

Potato Pancakes!

I have been buying frozen potato pancakes for a long time now, but always loved Gran Fran's homemade ones. We would sometimes have breakfast for dinner, which mostly meant bacon and eggs or french toast, but sometimes included potato pancakes. I love the crispy outside and the warm, soft inside. Gran Fran's were loaded with salt and sometimes had corn added to them. I remember the sizzle of the hot oil and Gran Fran yelling for all the kids to back away from the stove (and to leave the kitchen) in case the oil splattered when she put the potato pancakes in the pan. I can't recall anyone every getting hurt when Gran Fran fried things, but she still tells the kids (meaning me and my five adult siblings) to back away when she's frying. Old habits die hard, I guess.

The other night I had some leftover mashed potatoes and remembered that this was the base for Gran Fran's potato cakes. I don't think I made them the same way she does, but they tasted great. Gran Fran's version definitely had flour involved. Mine use just an egg and the mashed potatoes, which I made with almond milk and olive oil, making them gluten and dairy free.

Isabella, my daughter, loved them so much, she told me not to give her anymore because she wouldn't know when to stop eating them and did not want to over do it. These are definitely being made on a regular basis around here.

So enjoy these with your family and friends. You can even try some add ins like leftover bacon (but for real, who has that on hand?), scallions or grated cheese. Have a lovely weekend!

Potato Pancakes: Gluten and Dairy Free

Ingredients:

• 1 cup leftover dairy-free mashed potatoes (recipe here, includes dairy free option)
• 1 egg
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix mashed potatoes and eggs until a thick batter comes together. If you are adding in bacon, scallions or anything else, mix it into the batter now.
2. Heat the olive oil until super hot but not smoking in a pan.
3. Using a tablespoon, spoon the mixture into the pan, leaving a good amount of space between them in the pan.
4. Take a spatula and press down on the potato mixture in the pan to form a pancake. Some of the batter will ooze out the side, which is fine.
5. Cook on first side for 4 minutes, until you can see the edges browning.
6. Flip over the pancakes, press down once more with the spatula and cook for another 4 minutes.
7. Remove from the pan onto a paper towel lined plate and add salt.

Enjoy!

Mother's Day: Corn Muffins, Minted Strawberries, Iced Almond Milk Cappuccino

A wonderful Mother's day breakfast created by three generations: me, mymother and my daughter. It's not a complicated meal, but it is delicious and means a lot to me.

My daughter usually makes me corn muffins on the big day. I've always loved them, and she knows it. She generally serves them with a side of strawberries.

When I serve strawberries, I like to soak them in a simple syrup infused with mint. That's my contribution to this meal.

As for my mother, Gran Fran, no matter how long it has been, to me Spring and Summer at her house mean iced blended cappuccino drinks.

Please enjoy this with your family and let Mama put her feet up and relax while you scurry around and meet her every need.

Isabella's Corn Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 stick, 8 tablespoons, unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup gluten-free flour (recipe found here or pre-packaged mix found here)
• 1 cup corn meal
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar

Method

1. Heatoven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt butter.
3. Brush some of the melted butter on 12-cup muffin tin.
4. Place tin in oven.
5. Mix together milk, melted butter, and eggs
6. Mix together dry ingredients.
7. Swiftly stir wet ingredients into dry; do not overmix.
8. Carefully, spoon ingredients into hot, buttered  muffin tin
9. In lower third of oven, bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Remove from tin; wrap in dishtowel in dish or basket if serving immediately.
11. Otherwise place on wire rack, wrap individually in foil, seal in plastic freezer bag. Reheat before serving.

Natasha's Mint Marinated Strawberries

Ingredients:

• 6 mint leaves minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large strawberries cut into pieces

Method:

1. Put mint, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the mint simple syrup over the strawberries and let them sit for five minutes.

Gran Fran's Almond Milk Blender Cappuccino

serves 1

you will need a blender (ok, seems obvious, but thought I should mention it)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups hot coffee, if it’s winter; cold if it’s summer
• 1 cup almond milk (Gran Fran uses whole milk)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 ice cubes if it’s summer
• Cinnamon, optional

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in blender; adjust amounts to fit capacity of blender.
2. Hold down cap of blender with a dish towel.
3. Turn blender on high.
4. Blend until frothy and creamy.
5. Pour into glasses or cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
6. Serve immediately.

Orange You Glad I made a Tart?

Herewith a recipe for an orange puff pastry tart. It's so easy, it's almost criminal. If you use pre-made dough, there are only 4 other ingredients involved.

My daughter saw the finished product and asked when I had found the time to make the tart. She was sitting in the kitchen with me the whole time, but because it took such little effort, she had no idea I had made an entire tart.

This is the first time I've tried oranges as part of a tart. I really like the scent of the vanilla with the oranges and love how the segments look all laid out in rows on the pastry dough. Get creative here and add more fruit, or even a thin layer of warmed up apricot jam onto the dough before you place the orange segments.

Served warm with a scoop of coconut milk ice cream you will be brought right to summer's doorstep.

Note on the pastry dough:

Since this tart was for my co-workers, and not good old gluten-free me, I used a standard puff pastry, but did come across this gluten-free version from an Australian site. Or, you can make your own, using this recipe from the blog Tartelette, which I plan to do very soon.

Orange Puff Pastry Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
• 2 cups oranges, rind removed and cut into segments
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix the citrus segments with the sugar, vanilla and lemon juice.
3. Lay the puff pastry on a baking sheet, pricking it with a fork, to keep it flat while baking.
4. Place the citrus segments on the puff pastry.
5. Crimp the edges of the pastry dough up over the edges.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust just begins to brown.
7. Add the remaining juice/sugar mixture and bake an additional 10 minutes, until the crust is crispy.

Sweet Potatoes Three Ways

I don't have much to say here, short of the fact that sweet potatoes really float my boat.

They are good many ways, so I've chosen to share three with you today: mashed, oven fries and baked. Each is good in its own way and all are a welcome addition to any table.

A lot of my friends are wary when I tout the goodness of sweet potatoes, since their main exposure to them has been in the form of a casserole covered in marshmallows and maple syrup. That makes them sweet in the wrong way, and I understand why my friends are not huge fans of the sweet potato. Generally, once they've tried one of my plain and simple treatments, they are converted.

Enjoy them on their own or integrated into a meal with a salad and a roast.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 to 4 sweet potatoes, skinned, boiled and diced
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt to taste

Preparation

• Put boiled potatoes in a bowl, add milk, butter and salt and mash them all up thoroughly.
• You can also add 2 tablespoons of grated cheese like parmesan or sharp cheddar to the warm potatoes.

Oven-Baked French Fries

Ingredients

• 1 to 4 sweet potatoes, skinned and cut into matchsticks
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

Preparation

• Place potato matchsticks on a rimmed baking sheet and put them into a 425 degree oven. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the potatoes over halfway through the cooking time. Remove from oven, salt and serve.

Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 to 4 potatoes (sweet, russet, new), pierced with a fork

Preparation

• Bake potatoes for 40 minutes, remove from oven, pop open the potatoes and serve!
• Serve with butter, sour cream, bacon or grated cheese.

Beet Salad with Oranges

 Gran Fran knows her way around beets. She would make them for us on a regular basis. Her salad involves only some olive oil and vinegar. And, she also cooks her with the skin on, removing it after cooking. Her method involves roasting the beets in the oven individually wrapped in foil (Gran Fran, let me know if I'm wrong here). Skinning the hot beets made me stay away from beet cooking for a good long time. My hands not only turned red from the juice, but also were slightly burned each time I tried to de-skin one of the beets.

My sister Danielle taught me this method, which turns your fingers red immediately, but leaves you with fewer burn marks on your hands. I think I end up with more beets, too. Using a vegetable peeler allows you to remove just the brown skin and preserve more of the good stuff.

I cook the beets in what will become the dressing for the final product, too, which gives you a really flavorful dressing. And, you are able to eat these hot, if you want to, without having to waste any time peeling off the skin.

The addition of oranges and sunflower seeds to this salad make it the perfect Spring-is-Here dish. It's fruity and earthy with just a little bit of crunch.

Featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Beet Salad with Oranges

INGREDIENTS

• 3 beets, skins peeled off, greens removed, cut into eighths.
• 1 small shallot, cut into quarters
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 orange cut into small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon sunflower seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place the beet and shallots onto a rimmed baking sheet, or into a baking pan large enough to allow space between the pieces.
3. Mix together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the beets, making sure to coat all sides of the beets.
4. Roast the beets in the oven for 40 minutes, or until fork tender, turning the beets every ten minutes or so.
5. In a large bowl, mix together the warm beets with the orange segments.

Veggies in the Oven: Cauliflower Gratin and Roasted Asparagus

 These two vegetable dishes are super easy to make and can be used as either a side dish or with some small additions, as a main dish. The roasted asparagus can be served with pasta and a poached egg, as a main dish. If you like, you can add bacon to the cauliflower gratin to make it just that much heartier.

Featured on The Fruit Guys website, here and here.

Cauliflower Gratin

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets, steamed for five minutes
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs (regular or Glutino gluten-free)
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Put the cauliflower into a casserole dish. Cover with breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are browned and cheese is melted.

Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

• 1 bunch asparagus stalks, bottoms trimmed off
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 450.
2. Place asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet and pour olive oil evenly over the top. Turn the asparagus over a few times to coat all sides in the olive oil.
3. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, until the stalks become browned and wilted.