I haven’t had much time for creating new recipes this week. But I thought I should share this! If you can find a wheat free pie dough recipe that you like, you can make a low FODMAP pecan pie! I never thought it would be possible to do it without corn syrup, but Betty Crocker has one that uses maple syrup. Make her filling and bake it in a gluten free pie dough.
Betty Crocker’s Maple Pecan Pie – http://tinyurl.com/7k89efn
I’ve been wracking my brains trying to come up with a dessert that is lower in FODMAPs than the usual T-Day fare. All that dairy, brown sugar, and flour can be so hurtful! Using sweeteners like maple syrup or sorghum molasses (NOT the same as regular molasses) can help lower the fructose content. I will provide my family with pumpkin and pecan pies, but I need to find a dessert or two that I can tuck into. I prefer fruit-based desserts which makes my quest even more difficult. I spied a recipe for Cranberry Upside-Down Cake at SeriousEats. I’m going to try to modify it by making a half recipe of Karina Aldrich’s batter for Vanilla Cupcakes and using that as my cake batter. You may want to clarify your butter before using it to remove any lactose; or use ghee.
Post Thanksgiving Note: The cake was delicious. I might want to change up the topping a little bit the next time because the sugar was still a little bit granular. I think I will use a bit less sugar and a bit more sorghum molasses.
Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon sorghum molasses (NOT regular molasses)
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh cranberries, picked over and washed
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sorghum flour or brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup lactose-free milk
1 medium egg, beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and the sorghum molasses and stir with a fork until thoroughly mixed together. Add the cranberries and combine. Preheat oven to 350. While preheating, put the 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch non-stick metal pan and put it in the oven until the butter melts. Make sure the entire bottom of the pan is coated with butter. Pour in the cranberry mixture and even it out in the pan.
Sift all of the dry ingredients together in another bowl. With a whisk, add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix until thoroughly combined. Pour the batter over the cranberry mixture. and smooth out the top. Bake in the preheated oven until the cake is done and starts to pull away from the sides. I have no idea yet how long this will take. 45 minutes? Longer?
Once out of the oven, cover the pan with a large plate and flip it over to release the cake onto the plate. You must be fearless and secure in your abilities to do this!
Because we always cook our turkey on a smoker, I never have pan drippings for gravy. I have always made a big batch of turkey stock in advance of Thanksgiving and used it as a basis for my gravy and for moistening the dressing. The recipe for the stock is straight from epicurious, just omit the onions to make it free of FODMAPs. You can do this many days ahead and freeze it. Sweet rice flour is a very finely milled flour. It works almost as well as regular flour for thickening. I prefer it to gravies thickened with cornstarch. I can find it my grocery store in the Asian foods section.
Turkey Gravy
8 tablespoons butter
8 tablespoons sweet rice flour
1 quart turkey stock, warmed
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the foam starts to subside, dump in the flour and whisk vigorously to get it combined with the butter. When it is all incorporated, whisk in the stock. Keep whisking while bringing the gravy to a simmer. Simmer it over low heat until nicely thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
I grew up in a household that was strictly a bread-based, oyster dressing family. When I got married and would visit my in-laws for Thanksgiving, I would take a polite serving of my Southern mother-in-law’s cornbread dressing. I wasn’t very fond of it. Years ago, when I realized that eating wheat was causing me serious problems, I was very upset at the thought of not eating my traditional dressing. Well,, I’ve since come around. I make a very tasty cornbread dressing that combines elements of both my mom’s and my mother-in-law’s recipes.
So this year, I’m modifying the recipe even further to reduce the FODMAP load. Here goes:
Cornbread for Dressing
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (make sure it does not contain bean flours)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup melted butter
Preheat oven to 400; grease a 10 inch square baking pan. Combine all of the dry ingredients and stir well. Stir in the wet ingredients. Dump into the prepared pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until done. Cool completely. Remove from the pan and crumble the entire loaf. Let it sit out a day to get dried out. Or put the crumbled bread on a baking sheet and put it in a very low oven to dry it out some.
Dressing
1 recipe cornbread for dressing
1 pint oysters, chopped, liquid reserved
1/2 lb. bulk pork sausage
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 bunches scallions, green tops only, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups chopped chestnuts
1 tablespoons rubbed sage (buy a fresh can, don’t use last year’s)
chicken or turkey stock for moistening, maybe 2 cups
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a large casserole dish. Put the cornbread crumbles into a large bowl and add the chopped oysters and their liquid. Saute the pork sausage until it is cooked through; remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and add it to the cornbread. In the remaining fat, saute the celery until it starts to soften. Add it and the scallions, parsley, chestnuts, and sage to the cornbread. Now add just enough liquid to thoroughly moisten the mixture without making it soupy. I like to start with about 1 cup of stock, mix everything together and then let is sit for 5 minutes or so before deciding if I need to add more liquid. Put the mixture into the casserole and cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the oysters are cooked, approx 25 – 30 minutes.
The fall gardens at our community garden are growing like gangbusters. I have some fabulous head lettuce and a friend gave me a big bag of arugula. I put this salad together to go with the Moroccan soup. I have long used oranges in my green salads. They are much better than winter tomatoes. Be sure to slice off all of the rind and remove seeds.
lettuce
arugula
sliced oranges
toasted walnuts
scallion greens
white wine vinegar
garlic oil
salt and pepper.
You need to determine amounts based on how many people you are feeding. I used about 3 cups of greens, 2 small oranges, half cup of walnuts and a couple tablespoons of scallion greens for two people.
I’m on a Moroccan kick. This soup was so good! I used a “turban” squash, but any winter squash will do. See yesterday’s chicken recipe for information about the Ras el Hanout.
4 strips thick bacon, chopped
2 carrots, grated
3 cups cooked, mashed winter squash
3 -4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon Ras el Hanout
3 scallion tops, chopped
Heat a soup pot over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook until crispy and remove the bacon to a plate. Add the grated carrots to the bacon fat and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the winter squash, 3 cups of the chicken broth, and Ras. Simmer for about 5 – 10 minutes until the carrots are tender. Take the soup off the heat and puree it in batches in a food processor or blender. Return it to the pot over low heat. Add a little more broth if it seems too thick. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the chopped scallions and bacon.
I modified this recipe from Epicurious. If you have all of the ingredients, this dish is a snap to make. If you do not have the Ras el Hanout spice blend or the preserved lemons, you can substitute; see below. The spice blend is not hot-spicy. The variety I have in my cupboard does contain garlic powder so if you are sensitive, it would be best to substitute other spices
olive oil
1 half inch thick slice of onion
2 garlic cloves, halved
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon Ras el Hanout spice blend
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/4 cup green olives
2 tablespoons minced preserved lemon, rind only
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Warm a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the oil until they are soft, then discard them. Turn the heat up under the oil and add the chicken breasts. Let them sit in the pan until they don’t stick anymore and are browned on one side, 3 – 4 minutes. Turn the chicken breasts over, add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT cilantro, put a lid on the pan and turn the heat to low. Cook over low heat 12-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Garnish with cilantro and serve with quinoa.
If you don’t have Ras el Hanout, you can make your own. You can also substitute microwaved lemons for the preserved lemons. If you do that, add more salt to the recipe because preserved lemons are very salty.
Microwaved lemons
Quarter a lemon, but not all the way through. You want 4 quarters still attached at one end. Place in a microwave safe dish and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high until the lemons is thoroughly soft, even the skin. Time will depend on the size of your lemon and your microwave. Let cool until you can handle it. Scrap away the fleshy interior and discard. Chop the cooked rind to use in the recipe.
FODMAP diet recipes 