Vegan, Dairy-Free Caramels? Yes please! Glenn's Coconut Caramels

Coconut Salted Caramels (Vegan)This take on the classic salted caramel replaces the milk fat of butter and cream with coconut. You will need a candy thermometer.
Ingredients:
⦁ 1 can full-fat coconut milk (refrigerated)
⦁ 1/4 cup coconut oil (we use virgin for more coconut flavor).
⦁ 1 tsp. sea salt.
⦁ 1 1/2 cup sugar.
⦁ 1/4 cup light corn syrup
⦁ 1/4 cup water
Instructions:
1. Spray an 8-inch pan with cooking spray or oil, line with parchment baking paper, and then spray the surface of the paper. Fit the liner to the pan by tracing the bottom of the pan on the paper, and then notching out the corners outside of the square. This lets the paper fold up the sides without overlapping or rising out of the pan.

2. Open the refrigerated can of coconut milk and spoon all of the solidified "cream" portion from the top of the can into a microwave safe bowl, add the coconut oil and salt, then microwave for ~30 sec to 1 minute until melted. Stir the mixture until uniform and set aside for later.

3. In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the water, sugar and corn syrup over high heat until the desired caramel color is achieved.
Once the sugar has dissolved, don't stir the liquid, just swirl the pan; vigorous stirring can cause the sugar to crystalize. For regular caramels, we usually go slightly past the point where the sugar mixture starts to turn a reddish-golden color and gives off a bit of smoke. A coconut caramel can't handle this much caramel flavor, so we usually take the caramelization process to where the sugar just darkens into the red range but hasn't yet started to smoke.

4. As soon as the desired color is reached, carefully add the cream mixture to the hot sugar, stirring continuously with a long spoon.
***Folks, we aren't kidding about the long spoon. Adding the cream mixture (which contains water) to the hot sugar rapidly generates a lot of steam, which will burn your fingers good if you are too close while pouring and stirring.

5. Continue to stir the mixture as you reheat it to 248°F (120°C), which is just above "soft ball" temperature on your candy thermometer, then immediately remove this very hot molten caramel from the heat and pour into the parchment-lined pan.

6. Allow to fully cool to room temperature, which takes several hours, then cut into squares.
Squares work very well, because they can be individually wrapped in squares of waxed paper and used for snacking at parties, as gift bag stuffers, or you can unwrap and melt them to make a caramel sauce or a caramel macchiato. We use a sturdy pizza cutter to cut the caramel sheet, as a knife often doesn't "cut it."

Slightly After July 4 recipe: Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad

Hello! Here we are - slightly late - with our July 4 Holiday Weekend Red, White and Blue Potato Salad recipe. You can modify it to be egg or dairy free, depending on your allergies - this year we tried it with sour cream instead of mayonnaise, and we've tried it with Greek yogurt and really liked it too! Different iterations give you slightly different tastes - some people hate sweet pickles, but growing up in the South, they were necessary to potato salad! My husband grew up in Cincinnati, so his version is vinegary, closer to the German origins. This is kind of a happy medium - missing mustard, including fennel instead of onion, and easily adaptable to tastes and allergies.

Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad
July 5, 2013

Note: The secret of this hearty potato salad is that it can be readily modified be either non-dairy or egg-free, depending on your dietary needs. This is done by replacing source cream or yogurt with a diary-free mayonnaise and leaving out the eggs.
Note: Add some zip to this dish by adding acidic ingredients, such as vinegar or pickle juice, as your diet and predilections allow.

Ingredients:
·         1 lb. whole red, white, and blue baby potatoes or small redskin potatoes, which work best.
·         2 Tbsp. table salt.
·         1/4 whole fennel (anise) blub, finely chopped.
·         1/2 cup whole sour cream, Greek yogurt, or mayonnaise--as tolerated.
·         Salt and sugar to taste.
·         (Optional) 2 hardboiled eggs, diced--if tolerated.
·         (Optional) 2 Tbsp. diced red onion--if tolerated.
·         (Optional) 2 medium Pickles, sweet or dill, diced--as tolerated.
·         (Optional) White vinegar or pickle juice, to taste--as tolerated.

Instructions:
1.       Place the potatoes in a medium pot, add two tablespoons of salt and enough cold water to cover potatoes with an inch of water. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook 10-15 minutes.
2.       After potatoes are tender enough that a knife can be easily inserted into the center of the potatoes, dump out the hot water and run cold water in the pot to cool down the potatoes.
Idea Use ice cubes to cool down the potatoes even faster.
3.       When cool, chop the potatoes into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes, which is 8 pieces per potato for baby potatoes. If you have trouble with insoluble fiber, peel the potatoes before you dice them.
4.       In a large bowl, combine the potato cubes and fennel, and optionally eggs, onions, or pickles. With a fork, work the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, into the mixture to coat dry ingredients.
5.       Depending on the type of dressing used, you may need to add additional salt and sugar, to taste. Optionally, add a little pickle juice or white vinegar, to taste.
6.       Refrigerate for at least an hour in a closed container and serve cold.

Idea: When you take this or any potato salad to a picnic or if it must sit out, set the serving bowl into a bowl of ice. This helps keep the salad safe from spoiling for a little extra time.

Trophy Cupcakes Now Has a Gluten-Free Cupcake - Red Velvet!

Now, what kind of gluten-free Northwest blogger guide would I be if I neglected to mention one of the best cupcakeries in the Northwest, and definitely in Seattle, offering a gluten-free option at their stores? Now you can get their famous Red Velvet cupcake gluten-free! Not sure what kind of flours they're using, or whether they're considered cross-contaminated (a no-no for the truly wheat-allergic, which unfortunately includes me) but I am excited to find out more! Here's hoping I can eat it - and that they include a salted caramel gluten-free cupcake in the coming months!

A New Thanksgiving Tradition - Individual Crustless Cranberry Meringue Pie!

Thanksgiving this year we've tried simplifying a bit as it will be just the two of us, but we did want to experiment a bit with a new dessert.

Cranberry Meringue Pie
 Lighter and more refreshing after a heavy dinner than traditional pumpkin pie, this was a really fun take on a Southern dessert from my childhood - lemon meringue pie.
We modified the recipe below by adding a tiny bit more sugar to the filling, substituting pomegranate juice for orange juice, and eliminating the crust (but a slightly salty nut crust would be delicious - next time maybe we'll try that!) Instead of making a whole pie, we put them in individual ramekins and adjusted the cooking time down a bit - much better if you have two or three at the table instead of twelve!
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cranberry_meringue_pie.html
It is literally one of the most beautiful desserts I've ever made, especially if you pipe the meringue on top like my mother used to do.
It doesn't mention this in the Eating Well recipe, but you'll want to refrigerate this dessert pretty soon after it comes out of the oven.

Gluten-free Cupcakes at Cupcake Royale and Gluten Free Dining - Matador and Tango

A new discovery - Cupcake Royale (with an outpost in Downtown Bellevue) now carries gluten-free cupcakes! They only had double-fudge with vanilla frosting available on my last visit, but the texture was fluffy and the chocolate-ness was excellent. I'm just thankful that local cucake shops are starting to carry a safe option for those of us who can't eat wheat!

One of my favorite date restaurants downtown - perfect for a cocktail and tapas - is Tango. Tango has an extensive gluten-free menu which includes stuffed dates wrapped in bacon, Spanish tortillas, delicious corn tortillas and carnitas del puerco, paella and salads. The waitstaff and kitchen were very attentive and careful that I didn't accidentally eat something that had come in contact with wheat. And besides being perfect for a date, it's in a great location for out-of-towners who want to try something besides the average salmon-seafood Northwest cuisine.

One of the options for Redmond restaurants with good gluten-free options is the Southwest local chain Matador. Here's a link to the Seattle gluten-free menu, but Redmond's is very similar. I really liked the braised pork sopa but it's a great place to hit with co-workers for drinks and snacks after work without having to worry that the place won't have any options for you.

Recipes for 4th of July - Grilled Watermelon Salsa

Tired of your usual jarred tomato salsa, or looking for a tomato-alternative salsa to go with your gluten-free tortilla chips at this year's barbeque?

I'm sensitive to tomatoes (they make my lips swell up like a B-rate actress in five minutes flat) so I'm always looking for good salsa recipes that let me get around the tomato issue. I love a good black-bean-and-charred-corn salsa, for example. But lately I've been craving the same kind of tart, vitamin C-rich salsa when we grill out, so we experimented and came up with this recipe:

Grilled Watermelon and Fennel Salsa

Ingredients: Watermelon, fennel, onion, mint, basil, champagne vinegar, red pepper or cilantro if desired

1. Cut half-inch thick slices of watermelon, rind still on, from a small seedless watermelon.
2. Cut 1/4 inch slices of both fennel bulb and onion.
3. Grill the fennel and onion for a minute or two on each side, on a grill or grill pan on medium heat, until they start to soften. Then remove and set aside. 
4. Grill the watermelon on both sides until color changes from pink to a light orange. Salt both sides with Kosher salt while grilling.
5. Dice the grilled fennel and onion and cut the grilled watermelon into 1/2 cubes, and combine with a dash of your favorite vinegar, pomegranate juice, or other acidic liquid.
6. Mince the fresh herbs - mint, basil, or cilantro work well - and sprinkle over the salsa. If needed, and a pinch of salt or sugar, to taste.

Lowish Casein Ice Cream, you say? Blueberry ricotta gelato for a hot summer's day

Yes, it's summertime, and most of the country has been swaddled in a heat wave. Here in the Northwest, however, we've been stuck in an endless rotation of "almost 60" rainy days and drizzle all June. But sunnier weather lies ahead, I stubbornly insist. So I wanted to share a gluten-free, lower-casein ice cream recipe. This is not appropriate for people who are allergic to dairy, but if you are sensitive to casein but not lactose, like I am, it works wonderfully to give me an ice-cream like experience in summertime (without the stomachache.)

For the truly dairy-free, I recommend the lovely gluten-free Coconut sorbet from the brand Double Rainbow. Delicious, and the consistently is exactly like real ice cream (the secret is that the main ingredient is coconut cream.) I believe that this sorbet is safely all dairy-free for those of you with allergies - you would be surprised how many sorbets still have traces of dairy in them! (Why?) And it's delicious sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings!

OK, onward to this recipe which I've altered somewhat from a British magazine recipe that I transcribed ages ago. (Gluten-free hint: British Magazines are a great source of gluten-free recipes for some reason. They just eat naturally more gluten-free desserts, for one: meringues, jellies, and custards are all gluten-free.)  

The secret to this recipe's wonderful texture is the gelatin, which sounds really like a weird step in an ice-cream making process but trust me, it yields great results. I also have a variation without the gelatin (for vegan friends) or whipping cream...

Blueberry Ricotta Gelato

Ingredients:

·         1 packet (1/4 oz) powdered gelatin

·         1 cup ripe blueberries

·         3/4 cup sugar

·         16 oz ricotta cheese (drained)

·         1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

1.        Bloom the gelatin in 3 Tablespoons of cold water for 5 minutes.
2.        Stir 1/2 of this gelatin mixture into 1/4 cup hot water (or heat gently over a double boiler or carefully in the microwave) until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Discard the remaining gelatin.
3.        In the food processor, blend the ricotta cheese until smooth, and then add the blueberries, sugar, and gelatin, blending after each addition until creamy.
4.        Beat the cream until thick (not stiff), and then fold in the blueberry mixture.
5.        Churn in an ice cream maker to the desired consistency (check the manufacturer's directions).
Note: I had to 1/2 this recipe because I have a small ice cream maker--the kind with the container that you pre-freeze.)
6.        Serve when set, or place in a chilled container and freeze (this gelato freezes pretty hard, so you will need to thaw slightly before serving).

I  tried it again without the gelatin or whipping cream, but adding eight ounces of cream cheese. (I do well with both ricotta and cream cheese, which tend to be a little lower in casein.) This was a great variation - a great, cheese-cake-y taste and consistency! So go for either one!