Wheat-Free Lunch


My girlfriends and I try to get together a few times a week to walk, lunch (out or homemade), gym, yellowbird (baby/kids music class), bbq's, etc...  Since one of the ladies is wheat intolerant, we thought we would try making a wheat-free lunch.  If you haven't worked with wheat-free crusts, it's very difficult. The crust crumbles and tears making it hard to transfer to a pan.  I made a tart (which actually stayed together) and a quiche but the crust fell apart while par baking.  Clearly I need to explore the whole gluten-free world a little better. One of the ladies made an amazing flourless chocolate torte.  Wow, is all I have to say!  It was absolutely scrumptious and fairly easy to make.  The recipe came from blogger, Gluten Free Goddess.  If you haven't checked out her blog, I suggest you do.  Lots of fabulous recipes!

The quiche was of my creation.  I just LOVE quiches and wanted a slightly lighter version.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Quiche:


For Crust:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup potato starch, plus extra for dusting
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup almond meal
1 Tb powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine potato starch, tapioca flour, millet flour, almod meal, sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Add butter and pulse again until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add egg and pulse until completely combined to make a lightly sticky dough.  Place dough onto a large sheet of waxed paper dusted with potato starch.  Sprinkle potato starch over dough and knead gently, working in about 2 more Tb of potato starc, until dough holds together without being sticky.  Using your fingertips, press dough into a 10-in circle.  Invert a 9-in pie pan on top of dough then quickly flip over both the pan and the dough so that the dough now rests in the pan.  Gently peel away wax  paper and press dough into pie plate, patching it together, if needed.  Crimp and trim edges as desired then prick sides and bottom with a fork.  Line crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights.  Bake until crust is just set and slightly dry around the edges., about 15 minutes.   Remove parchment paper and pie weights.

For Filling

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
3 eggs
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 heavy cream
1 med shallot, chopped
5 oz sun dried tomatoes
6 oz artichoke hearts
1/2 cup fontina cheese
1/2 cup gouda (non smoked)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk eggs, eggs whites, 2% milk, heavy cream, shallots, salt and pepper.  Whisk sun dried tomatoes and artichokes into egg mixture.  Sprinkle 1/2 fontina and 1/2 gouda cheese on the prepared crust.  Pour the egg mixture in crust and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Bake for 20-25 min and let cool before serving.

Crust recipe adapted from Whole Foods

Pear and Almond Frangipane Tartelettes


Makes 6 4-inch tartelettes or one 9-inch tart

For the crust:

Ingredients:
5 Tb unsalted butter, room temp
3 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1/2 cup fine rice flour
1/2 millet flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup corn starch (or tapioca flour)
2 Tb to 1/4 cup milk or water (I used milk)

Preparation:
In a mixer, whip the butter on medium speed until light and airy.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition.  Mix until well incorporated.  Add the salt and, all the different flours, and mix briefly. 

Add some milk , 1 Tb at a time (if the dough feels too dry.)

Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured (rice flour) board and gather the dough into a smooth ball.  Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and position a rack in the center.

When the dough is cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board (rice flour) to fit 6 4-in tart pans.  If the dough the dough tears while you roll or/and transfer into the pan and patch it with your fingertips. 

Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper, fill with pie weights and par bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the weights and parchment paper.

For the frangipane 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/3 cup honey
1 cup ground almonds (I used organic blanched and silvered)
2 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp cardamon
2 medium bosch pears, cored, halved and thinly sliced
Creme fraiche (for garnish)
Vanilla sugar (for garnish)

Preparation:
Place the butter, honey, ground almonds and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor.)  Add the cream and cardamom but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking.

Divide the frangipane among each tart rings, add a few slices of pears right on top (no need to push them through) and bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Let cool garnish with a dallop of creme fraiche and vanilla sugar.  



Recipe adapted from Tartelette

We accompanied this lunch with an affordable yet delicious Chardonnay.  It can be found at most grocery stores for around $13.00.



2 comments:

  1. Sorry I missed this one. :-( Looks like it was yummy. The tartlet looks amazing and it looks like Em outdid herself on the chocolate cake. Count me in for the next one.

    XOXO

    Stace

    ReplyDelete
  2. I found you via Hop A Little Tuesday (and am now following)! I'm SO GLAD I found this blog! I'm recently gluten-free and have been looking for recipes to make-- that won't be boring! Thanks for sharing and I can't wait to read more!

    Kelli
    www.theunexpectededucation.com

    ReplyDelete

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