Reader Request: GF Galette Dough

A while back, when I made this Tomato and Eggplant Galette,  I was asked to experiment with gluten free galette dough. I researched several GF galette doughs online (check out the most promising here and here), but most used rice flour. Rice flour is, of course, gluten free, but I actually have a relative that can't have gluten or rice and so I figured why not try and create a rice and gluten free dough? That way, at family functions, I have a built-in pot luck dish. (Thinkin' ahead, I am.)

So, a trip to Whole Foods was in order to scope out the GF flour options. After much debate (poor WF people must of thought I was crazy...up and down all those aisles), I settled on Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour (Ingredients: Garbanzo Bean Flour, Potato Starch, Tapioca Flour, White Sorghum Flour and Fava Bean Flour). It was free of rice and gluten and I thought just maybe it would be able to substitute well in the original galette dough recipe. Turns out, it did, with the addition of a little xanthum gum.

To keep the integrity of this experiment, I did a blind study on the hubs. I cooked this GF Tomato and Zucchini galette and also baked up a Zucchini and Caramelized Onion galette on a dough full of gluten. Then served husband both. The man couldn't tell the difference - success. Even after I told him which was which, he needed a reminder when heating up the leftovers.

Some of the reasons I love galettes is that they are:

• Ridiculously easy to make
• Good for both savory and sweet fillings
• Delicious as leftovers - reheated or straight from the fridge

Check out that flaky crust!

Gluten & Rice Free Galette Dough:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp. xanthum gum
1 t table salt
1 stick butter diced
1/4 c strained sheep's milk yogurt
1/4 c ice water
2 t lemon juice

Strain the yogurt until enough water drains out that it is a similar consistency to sour cream. You'll need to start with a bit more than a 1/4 cup so that when it drains off some water, you'll have 1/4 cup for the recipe.

In a food processor, combine flour, salt and cold butter. Pulse 10 times (1 second each) to form crumbles. Mix in the sour cream and lemon juice and slowly start to add the water pulsing 10 more times or until the mixture starts to form a ball. I did not need all 1/4 c of the water to get the mixture to form a ball, so add slowly and not all at once - you may have a bit leftover - it's ok. Remove from the food processor and place on a (GF) floured silpat or parchment paper. Press out into a 10" diameter circle, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. When you are ready to fill, remove from the fridge and form a 16" diameter circle and spread your filling* on the dough, leaving 2-3" of the edges exposed. Fold the edges over and bake in a 350 F oven for 45-60 minutes or until the edges are browned and the dough is cooked through. 

 * I used the filling from this Eggplant & Tomato Galette, substituting eggplant for zucchini.

Eggplant & Tomato Galette

A while back, we had made Andrea's Caramelized Onion & Zucchini Galette. It was delicious and, despite the fact that it had no meat, Nick said that he really liked it. The leftovers in particular worked well in his lunch (he never had time to heat up lunch and regularly ate leftovers cold). So, we knew we were galette fans. Immediately, we started to think up other ideas for galettes but they fell by the wayside as we became busier and eventually we forgot all about them...

We had an extra eggplant lying around and needed something to use it up. So often, eggplant is relegated to the side dish area of a meal, but we had a whole eggplant so a little more than side dish material. After some deliberation, this recipe came to be.

I happen to love it. The eggplant gives it enough "meaty" material that it's filling while the tomato and feta sauce give it a bright, tangy note that compliments the earthiness of the eggplant. The light crust of the galette dough keeps the meal from getting too heavy. They were yummy straight from the oven and eaten cold as leftovers (well, Nick says so).

Eggplant & Tomato Galette

Ingredients:
1 recipe galette dough (recipe follows)
1 recipe feta sauce (recipe follows)
1 small eggplant, sliced thin & sweat with salt
3-4 plum or on the vine tomatoes (we used Campari), sliced thin
salt
pepper
basil leaves, chiffonade, optional
feta crumbles, optional


Roll the galette dough onto parchment or wax paper to form a 10" circle. Place in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll (on a floured surface) to form a 16" diameter circle. Place the rolled out dough on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or lined baking sheet.

To assemble the galette, start by spreading the feta sauce onto the galette dough, leaving 3 inches around the edges. On top of the sauce, arrange the eggplant in a slightly overlapping spiral pattern around the galette, moving towards the center until you have covered the surface. Evenly top with tomato slices and lightly salt and pepper the assembled galette.

Once assembled, gently fold over the edges of the dough to form a "crust." Start by folding a small portion of the dough onto the assembled portion and continue to pleat the dough until a circle has formed holding all the contents in place.


Bake the assembled galette in a 350 F oven for approximately 45 minutes or until the crust is slightly golden and cooked through.


Galette Dough:


Ingredients:
1 1/2 c flour
1 t table salt
1 stick butter diced
1/4 c sour cream
1/4 c ice water
2 t lemon juice

In a food processor, combine flour, salt and cold butter. Pulse 10 times (1 second each) to form crumbles. Mix in the sour cream, ice water, and lemon juice and pulse 10 more times, until the mixture starts to form a ball. Remove from the food processor and place on a silpat or parchment paper. Press out into a 10" diameter circle, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.


Feta Sauce:
adapted from this Food Network recipe


Ingredients:
2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 c. feta crumbles, well drained
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch cayenne
1 tbsp. dried mint leaves


Line a strainer with a layer of cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Place the yogurt in the strainer and refrigerate. Let the water drain from the yogurt until the yogurt has reduced to 1 cup. It will take about 2-3 hours.


Combine the feta, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and cayenne in a blender and blend until smooth, adding more oil if needed. Add the yogurt and pulse to combine. Also add in the mint and blend until combined. This can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

Home vs. Store: Almond Milk

So, the first HOMEmade vs. STOREbought installment is Almond Milk. I drink almond milk on a regular basis since I can't have cow's milk. The store bought almond milk is certainly not bad, and I prefer it to rice and soy milks, but I wondered how hard would this be to make? How would it compare to store bought?

Luckily, it's a breeze to make (those Almond Breeze people weren't kidding), soaking overnight is the only critical timely step, but since it can be done while you're sleeping, pretty dang easy. Here's the breakdown (followed by the recipe & verdict):

Cost of Homemade: $1.40 / 3.5 = $0.40 per serving


Cost of Storebought: $3.69 / 8 = $0.46 per serving (Almond Breeze Brand)

Active Cooking Time (includes peeling time, although it is optional): 1 hour, 30 minutes (60 minutes were peeling the shells from the almonds)


Ingredients of Homemade: almonds, filtered water, honey, vanilla

Ingredients of Storebought: almond milk (filtered water, almonds), evaporated cane juice, calcium carbonate, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, sunflower lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, D-alpha-tocopherol (Almond Breeze Brand)

Almond Milk

 

Ingredients:
1 c. whole almonds - $1.22
3 c. water - $0.00
2 tsp. honey (more or less to taste) - $0.10
1/2 tsp vanilla (if you want vanilla flavored milk) - $0.08

 

Soak the almonds overnight in water (the water should just cover the nuts), covered.


The next morning (or however long you can wait), drain the almonds. If you want, you can toss them in the blender as is. I remove the shells (at this point, after soaking, they peel off rather easily anyway) prior. I start by banging each lightly with a mallet to break the shells. Then they easily peel off. It's a labor intensive step, but seeing as it can be done on the sofa, not really that difficult.

 

Add the almonds, honey and vanilla (optional) into a blender with 1 1/2 c. water. Blend this mixture until the almonds are ground and then add the remaining 1 1/2 c. water. Blend for about a minute or so until the mixture is smooth. 

 

If you want a thicker mixture and don't mind the pulp, you're all set. Since I was used to store bought almond milk and prefer a smoother texture, I simply strained mine through a nut milk bag, squeezing to get all the goodness out. If you want, you can use a tea towel or something similar. The nut milk bag is not a bad investment if you plan on making in regularly, but not necessary.


To store, place the milk in a sealed container and refrigerate. I put mine in a ceramic milk bottle (available here). It will last about 3 days in the fridge.

*To make a more creamy milk, use 2 cups water. For a thinner milk, use 4 cups. I wouldn't really use any more than that ratio as it tends to get pretty watery if you do, but it's all up to you and your tastebuds.

The pulp that remains at the end can be stored in the freezer for use in pie crusts, granola bars and similar recipes.

Verdict: Based on flavor alone, I would go with homemade. Based on convenience, obviously store bought wins hands down. I will probably use a combination of the two in the future - homemade if I feel like making it or have a recipe that I will use it in (ice cream comes to mind) or don't want to make a trip to the store. For topping cereal, the flavor difference isn't really noticeable. Because the flavor is so superior though, you might find yourself drinking it more often even if you don't regularly drink store bought. Short version: If you use almond milk regularly, it's an easy homemade item. If you use it occasionally, stick with store bought as it tends to have a longer shelf life and the cost difference is minimal.

Spinach Gnocchi

When I was younger, I actually would go over to the neighbors house every Friday since that was their gnocchi day and gnocchi just was not something we ate at home. I thought it was incredibly exotic (my mom ate stuff like chicken mole, gorditas, and enchiladas - how boring). I'm sure they were store bought, because I seem to remember them being a bit chewy, topped with a can of red sauce, but at the age of eight, with my discerning palette, I thought they were totally the best. thing. ever.

Fast forward about 10 years and I tried making some pre-made gnocchi remembering my love of it as a child. Sadly, the stuff from the grocery store was just not that good. Now, almost 20 years later, I decided to try my hand at making them from scratch. It's not a complicated process and I'm sure it would get speedier the more that I work at it. As it was, it took me about an hour and a half, but I'll be reaping the rewards for some time (we froze seven dinners worth and ate one that night), so I'm okay with it.

Cooked up in salted boiling water until they floated with an optional sizzle in a skillet, topped with either butter and grated cheese or your favorite sauce and you've got a flavorful, light and airy dough ball dinner. And as much as I love love love potato gnocchi, these spinach gnocchi can alleviate some of the guilt that you might get from eating a meal consisting solely of carbs. But (in my opinion, of course) I think that occasionally indulging in something delicious and not insanely healthful is nothing you should feel guilty over. But if you are tinged with guilt, remember, you're eating vegetables too!

Spinach Gnocchi

Ingredients:
Spinach, 12 oz
1 3/4 lb potatoes
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

Begin by cooking your potatoes, until soft, in salted boiling water. This should take about 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes. While the potatoes are cooking, wilt the spinach in a large saute pan or pot. Once all the leaves have turned a darker green color and have completely wilted, remove from the heat. Once cooled, squeeze any remaining water from the leaves and chop fine. 

Once the potatoes are done, drain them and then mash. I used a potato ricer to get a finer texture, but you could also use a regular masher or fork. Add the flour, egg yolks and spinach to the potato mixture and season with salt. Then get in there and get dirty. With some additional flour standing by, begin to knead the mixture until it is incorporated together. It will still be a bit sticky, so keep whatever surface you are working on well floured. 

Break the large dough ball into smaller, easy to handle sizes to begin rolling into logs. Roll the logs into 2/3" diameter and then cut out the individual gnocchi (with a sharp knife!) to about 1/2 in length. Flour the gnocchi so that they don't stick together or to the board while you work on the rest. Continue until all the dough has been used up. 

To cook the fresh gnocchi, boil some salted water on the stove. Give it a stir to begin a whirlpool effect right before you drop them in - this will prevent them from sticking together and from immediately sinking (and sticking) to the bottom. Once they float you can remove them - they are done cooking. 

At this point, you can top them with you sauce and enjoy. Or you can add some olive oil to a skillet heated over medium heat and add the gnocchi to that pan, giving each a nice crispy outside while preserving that puffy, pillow-like ball of dough on the inside. Top with sauce (this shallot cream sauce, for example) or butter and enjoy!


To freeze the gnocchi for later use (which will taste way better than the frozen store bought, in my opinion), place the floured gnocchi on a large metal sheet pan (covered with parchment paper) and freeze. Once individually frozen, the gnocchi can be placed in bags or containers to be enjoyed later. We put 30 gnocchi in each container to yield 2 adult servings. Boil directly from frozen.

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is one of those ingredients that I like to use (because ya'll know how we love pasta in this house!). It gives us a little more veggies and just switches things up on occasion. I've tried this squash with plenty of sauces, but my absolute favorite is this recipe.

Baked Spaghetti Squash with Vodka Sauce

Ingredients:
1 small spaghetti squash
1 recipe Vodka Sauce (recipe below)
1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)
1/2 lb Italian turkey sausage, cooked into crumbles (optional)
Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

To bake the squash, you'll need to cut it in half lengthwise. Please only attempt to do this with a sharp knife as the squash is rather hard to cut and I don't want you all to get maimed.

Once cut, scrape out the seeds and the stringy portions from the center of the squash. You can reserve the seeds and bake them as you would pumpkin seeds (or toss them, your choice). Rub some oil onto a baking sheet and place the squash cut side down onto the baking sheet. Bake in a 350 F oven for about 45 minutes, or until the squash is tender and can be punctured easily with a fork or butter knife.

Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool slightly before handling. When it is cool enough to touch (you can also use an oven mitt or oven-safe glove like I do because I am not quite so patient at this point), scrape the insides of the squash with a fork and remove the pasta-like strands. Place the strands of squash in a large bowl or smaller serving-size bowls and top with the vodka sauce. I like to serve with a bit of grated pecorino romano, chiffonade basil and a wedge of lemon which I find breaks up all the sweet flavors of the sauce and squash. Another option is to top with sausage crumbles; the heat from the sausage also compliments the sweetness of the vodka sauce & squash.

Vodka Sauce
adapted slightly from this Food Network recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped fine
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 c. vodka

3/4 c. heavy cream, at room temperature

3/4 c. grated Pecorino Romano 

In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and continue to cook until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cans of tomatoes and bay leaves and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaf and adjust seasonings.

Stir in the vodka and reduce by a quarter, stirring often. Once reduced, stir in the cream and then the cheese. Stir to combine. Once heated through, you can serve or allow to cool to room temperature before freezing. The sauce can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Creamy Mushroom Noodles

I got this recipe a few years ago from Whole Foods Meals for 4 for $15.00. The original recipe included chicken, but after making it several times, I prefer a meatless version.

Ingredients:
1/4 c  butter
1/4 c flour
1 c. sour cream (Toffuti dairy-free sour cream substitute was used in this recipe)
1 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 c mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 1/2 tsp paprika
8 oz egg noodles

Melt the butter in a large pan, mix in the sour cream, chicken stock, mushrooms, paprika and flour. Stir or whisk to avoid lumps from the flour. I add a little at a time so I can mix it thoroughly and to avoid lumps. You may not use all of the flour, so stop adding when you have the creaminess and thickness to the sauce that you like.

In a separate pot, cook the egg noodles in salted boiling water until tender. Once cooked, drain and toss in the mushroom cream sauce in the sauce pan.

I typically add more mushrooms since I have omitted the meat from this dish. It's a quick and easy dinner or side dish. Enjoy!

Mushroom Lasagna

Who doesn't love lasagna? Creamy layers sandwiched between layers of pasta? This twist on the traditional lasagna (original recipe from Food & Wine) was not only delicious, it was meat-free. Nick adores meat, and so making a meat free meal is pretty rare. This lasagna, though, is a keeper. We'll definitely be making this one again!

Ingredients:

2.5 tbsp butter
1/8 c flour
1 1/2 c. heated milk or cream
3 cloves garlic, 2 finely chopped, 1smashed
pinch of nutmeg
6 lasagna noodles (we used no-boil to save a step)
1 large onions, diced
2 lb whole portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch basil, diced
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. Pecorino Romano, grated
salt and pepper

Melt 1.5 tbsp butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and incorporate into the butter, creating a rue. Add the cream to the rue and stir so that there are no lumps and the milk/cream is thoroughly incorporated into the mixture. Throw in the crushed garlic clove and nutmeg and simmer, stirring. Once it has thickened, turn off the heat and set aside. Salt and pepper to taste. In another pan (I recommend one that's deep), saute the onions and garlic in the remaining butter. Once the onions are clear, about 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and saute until tender. In a food processor, mix the cream and basil. Mix half of the cream mixture into the mushroom and onions and set aside the other half.

In a greased 9" x 9" baking dish, layer the bottom with the cream garlic sauce. Add a layer of lasagna noodles and top with the mushroom mixture. Add another layer of noodles and mushrooms and continue until the mushrooms are used up (I think we had 2 layers). Place noodles on top of the last mushroom layer. Mix the remaining cream garlic sauce with the basil cream and half the pecorino. Pour on top of the noodles. Top with the remaining cheese and bake in a 450 F oven for 45 minutes. Let rest before serving for 10 minutes.

Goat Cheese Ravioli

Remember these? Well, they were my first ravioli since my dairy allergy and I decided that I needed to eat more because they were so delicious. Since typical cheeses for ravioli, like ricotta, are no-go's for me, I thought to make them with goat's cheese, chevre to be specific.

Also, in our first go-around with the wonton wrapper raviolis, we were less than thrilled. They are fast, and easy, but flavor and texture wise they just weren't cutting it. Plus, they were a little hard to seal. So, this time around it looked like we were going to be making pasta.

So, I made some pasta dough. It was an interesting experiment, since well, we don't have a pasta roller, or a rolling pin for that matter. If you are interested in the pasta recipe, check it out at Serious Eats. It was a very tasty pasta, but I think next time we'll try the recipe in The Silver Spoon, since it seems simpler and uses less ingredients. Less fuss = better in my book.  I'll do a post on that when we try it.

Ingredients (for ravioli):
1/3 lb chevre, I used plain so that I could add flavors myself
2 bunches of spinach leaves, steamed
1/4 c pecorino romano, grated
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
pasta dough

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate for easier spooning and shaping when filling the raviolis.

I rolled the pasta dough very thin (with a water glass). I placed 1 tsp of the filling on the pasta every two to three inches. I used an egg wash to seal the edges once I folded the dough over the filling (don't forget to squeeze out any air bubbles), but if your dough is moist enough and sticking together easily, it's a step you can probably skip.

Since I don't have a biscuit cutter or anything, I cut the rounds out with a measuring cup (1/3 c. worked out pretty well). Since I made them earlier than we were planning to eat them, I froze them on a cookie sheet until solid and then placed in freezer bags so they wouldn't stick together.


When we were ready, I simply took them out of the freezer and placed them into salted boiling water. Once they floated, I pulled them out, drained and tossed them with the sauce and served.

Ingredients (for sauce):
3 tbsp butter
2 shallots, diced
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 c chicken stock
2 tbsp heavy cream
salt and pepper

To make the sauce, melt the butter over medium low heat, add the shallot and saute until tender. Add the flour and mix into the butter forming a light rue. Add the chicken stock slowly, and stir often to avoid lumps. Add the cream, salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes, without boiling so the rue doesn't separate. (If it does, however, a quick blend with an immersion blender should bring it back together).

We served them with a side of roasted asparagus and some fresh and crusty french bread.

Miso Soup

I love going to sushi restaurants for the sushi of course, but also for the soup and salad. To spare Nick's wallet, last night we made miso soup and ginger salad. It's a light dinner perfect for a weeknight.

Ingredients (for the miso soup):

1 bunch scallions/green onions, chopped with green and white parts separated
1" piece of ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
4 pieces kombu
2 tbsp. sesame oil
8 c. water
8 oz. shitake mushrooms, sliced or 3 oz dried (we used fresh this time)
1/2 c. miso paste
14 oz. firm tofu
touch of chile oil

Saute the scallions (white parts), ginger, and garlic cloves with the sesame oil in the bottom of a sauce pan until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the water and kombu and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the kombu (it's pretty tough and just to add flavor) then add the mushrooms and miso and continue to heat for another 10 minutes. Don't forget to give it a stir after adding the miso to help dissolve it. It will land at the bottom of the pot and sit there otherwise. Add the tofu at the last minute and heat until just heated through, about 5 minutes, and stir in a touch of chile oil for a hint of heat. Garnish with some of the green scallions and serve. This recipe makes 4-6 servings.

I like to serve this soup with a salad of crisp, cool vegetables tossed with a ginger dressing.

Ingredients (for the dressing):

1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c oil
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp ginger root, grated
2 tbsp celery, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp. tomato paste
3 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. And yes, even though it's going in the food processor, I still like to grate the ginger just to make sure it gets mixed up and there aren't any chunks left in the dressing. It won't be as smooth as a vinaigrette, so a little bit chunky is okay and to be expected. I love to use really crunchy ingredients in this salad, like romaine lettuce and cucumbers. I think the cool, crispness of the veggies compliments the warm spice of the dressing.

What are your favorite homemade "take-out" meals?