Hethyr: WOW! Has it really been over four months since we
last posted?! I knew it had been a
while, but I didn't realize it had been THAT long.
Well, we've had a very eventful few months to say the least! We visited family in Florida and Illinois in late July and early August...
Well, we've had a very eventful few months to say the least! We visited family in Florida and Illinois in late July and early August...
...Jon ran a marathon in early August...
...and started back to school mid-August...
...I was sick
for most of September and my dear, sweet Dad passed away at the end of the month so I spent a couple of weeks at home in Florida with my family...
...and I've been
spending the last few weeks playing catch-up with my business and our
house and helping out the owners of the yoga studio where I work while they've been out of town. WHEW!!! Well, that pretty much brings you up to
date. Well, almost...
I also found out in July
that I have Lyme disease. Yep. You know all of those food sensitivity issues
I've been dealing with for the past year-and-a-half? They're seemingly all related to the Lyme disease,
which I've had for the last 13 YEARS.
I've started a homeopathic treatment course, but it will probably be a
LONG road of healing ahead!
With all of that said, I have a feeling you'll understand why we've been absent for a while. :) However, we do still plan on posting as we're able and maybe the blog will take a bit of a new direction with mostly gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free recipes (it's kind of veered in that direction lately, anyway). That's one of the great things about writing a food blog, I think - being able to adjust the recipes as needed for what's going on at the time. I hope this will help some of you who may be dealing with some of the same sensitivities.
With all of that said, I have a feeling you'll understand why we've been absent for a while. :) However, we do still plan on posting as we're able and maybe the blog will take a bit of a new direction with mostly gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free recipes (it's kind of veered in that direction lately, anyway). That's one of the great things about writing a food blog, I think - being able to adjust the recipes as needed for what's going on at the time. I hope this will help some of you who may be dealing with some of the same sensitivities.
In our last post,
"Saturday Nut Fever," I promised you a gluten-free pizza recipe using
the Faux 'Fredo Sauce. Not only will I
give you that recipe, but I'll give you a couple more using the same
yummy gluten-free crust. I am a total
sucker for good pizza and that is probably one of the top three items that
I miss after cutting out gluten (over a year ago) and dairy (in the last 6
months or so). Not usually being one to sit back
and sulk because I'm not supposed to have it, I decided to go on a hunt for a GOOD gluten-free crust recipe. There are endless recipes for GF pizza dough,
but most of them straight-up suck. Actually,
come to think of it, I've NEVER had a GF pizza that I was thrilled with - I've
always just settled because beggars can't be choosers... only now we can! This GEM of a recipe is one worth holding on
to. If I can't tell that it's GF, I'm
willing to bet that most others can't either.
This dough is thin, crispy and oh-so-yummy! The recipe makes enough for eight pizzas, so
I usually halve it and we still get pizza several times in one week. Or I make the whole batch, we have friends
over, and we still wind up with enough for a couple more pizzas. Either way, it's pretty awesome. I haven't tried freezing the dough yet
because we never have any left, but if I try that one of these days, I'll give
you an update and let you know how it works.
Click HERE for the Gluten-Free
Pizza Dough Recipe from "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day" via Shooting the Kitchen. Note: After rolling
out the dough, I usually brush most of the excess brown rice flour off of the
top using a basting brush - it makes it much easier to spread out the sauce.
Gluten-Free Turkey and Bacon Faux
'Fredo Pizza (can also be Dairy-Free)
Makes one 14-inch pizza
 |
| Half mozzarella, half vegan cheese |
1/2-pound (orange size
portion) Gluten-Free Pizza Dough
Brown rice flour (for
dusting)
1 cup (or more) Faux'Fredo Sauce
1 large onion, sliced
4 large garlic cloves,
peeled and minced
6 ounce boneless, skinless
turkey breast, cooked and thinly sliced
4 sliced applewood smoked
bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded
mozzarella cheese or vegan mozzarella cheese (I use Daiya, but I prefer to go
very light)
Fresh basil for garnish
1. Thirty minutes
prior to baking, preheat oven to 500°F, with a baking stone placed on the
middle rack.
2. Dust the surface
of the refrigerated dough with brown rice flour and cut off a 1/2-pound
(orange-size) piece. Dust with more rice flour and quickly shape into a
ball. You will need to use lots of rice flour to prevent the dough from
sticking to your hands or the work surface, but avoid working lumps of flour
into the dough.
3. Liberally sprinkle brown rice flour onto a 14-inch
square piece of parchment paper. Flatten the dough with your hands into
an even circle, sprinkle generously with more rice flour, cover with another
14-inch piece of parchment paper, then roll the dough between the parchment to
produce a very thin round (about 1/16- to 1/8-inch). Peel away the top
piece of parchment paper, leaving the crust on the bottom piece.
4. Brush away most
of the excess brown rice flour from the top of the dough, then spread a layer
of Faux 'Fredo Sauce. Top with onions,
garlic, turkey slices, crumbled bacon and shredded cheese or vegan cheese (or
try half and half like we did).
5. Slide the pizza
and parchment directly onto the baking stone. Check for doneness in about
12 minutes (parchment paper will turn black, which is fine).
6. Cool just slightly, top with fresh basil
leaves, slice and serve.
Gluten-Free Pulled Pork Pizza (can
also be Dairy-Free)
(Sorry... this one disappeared before we could snap a picture!)
Makes one 14-inch pizza
1 large onion, sliced
1 medium green bell
pepper, seeded ribbed and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2-pound (orange size
portion) Gluten-Free Pizza Dough
Brown rice flour (for
dusting)
1 cup (or more) gluten-free
barbecue sauce, store-bought or homemade
4 large garlic cloves,
peeled and minced
1 cup (or more) barbecue
pulled pork (I use leftovers from a previous meal)
4 sliced applewood smoked
bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone
cheese or vegan mozzarella cheese (I use Daiya, but I prefer to go very light)
Fresh cilantro, for
garnish
1. In a large skillet, sauté the onions and
green bell pepper in olive oil until slightly softened.
2. Thirty minutes prior to baking,
preheat oven to 500°F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack.
3. Dust the surface
of the refrigerated dough with brown rice flour and cut off a 1/2-pound
(orange-size) piece. Dust with more rice flour and quickly shape into a
ball. You will need to use lots of rice flour to prevent the dough from
sticking to your hands or the work surface, but avoid working lumps of flour
into the dough.
4. Liberally sprinkle brown rice flour onto a 14-inch
square piece of parchment paper. Flatten the dough with your hands into
an even circle, sprinkle generously with more rice flour, cover with another
14-inch piece of parchment paper, then roll the dough between the parchment to
produce a very thin round (about 1/16- to 1/8-inch). Peel away the top
piece of parchment paper, leaving the crust on the bottom piece.
5. Brush away most of the excess brown rice
flour from the top of the dough, then spread with a layer of barbecue
sauce. Top with onion and pepper
mixture, garlic, pulled pork, crumbled bacon and shredded cheese or vegan
cheese.
6. Slide the pizza and parchment
directly onto the baking stone. Check for doneness in about 12 minutes
(parchment paper will turn black, which is fine).
7. Cool just slightly, top with fresh cilantro,
slice and serve.
Gluten-Free Pesto and Squash Pizza
(can also be Dairy-Free)
Makes one 14-inch pizza
1 large red onion, sliced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2-pound (orange size
portion) Gluten-Free Pizza Dough
Brown rice flour (for
dusting)
About 1 cup garlic scape
pesto or basil pesto (store-bought or homemade... if you're dairy-free, you'll
need to make your own without the cheese) mixed with a little water - you're
going for the consistency of a thick sauce
4 large garlic cloves,
peeled and minced
1 delicata squash, seeds
and fibers removed, thinly sliced
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded gouda
cheese or vegan mozzarella cheese (I use Daiya, but I prefer to go very light)
Fresh sage, minced for
garnish
1. In a skillet, sauté the onion in olive oil
until softened.
2. Thirty minutes prior to baking,
preheat oven to 500°F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack.
3. Dust the surface
of the refrigerated dough with brown rice flour and cut off a 1/2-pound
(orange-size) piece. Dust with more rice flour and quickly shape into a
ball. You will need to use lots of rice flour to prevent the dough from
sticking to your hands or the work surface, but avoid working lumps of flour
into the dough.
4. Liberally sprinkle brown rice flour onto a 14-inch
square piece of parchment paper. Flatten the dough with your hands into
an even circle, sprinkle generously with more rice flour, cover with another
14-inch piece of parchment paper, then roll the dough between the parchment to
produce a very thin round (about 1/16- to 1/8-inch). Peel away the top
piece of parchment paper, leaving the crust on the bottom piece.
5. Brush away most of the excess brown rice
flour from the top of the dough, then spread with a layer of the pesto-water
mixture. Top with onion, garlic, sliced
squash, and shredded cheese or vegan cheese.
6. Slide the pizza and parchment
directly onto the baking stone. Check for doneness in about 12 minutes
(parchment paper will turn black, which is fine).
7. Cool just slightly, top with fresh minced
sage, slice and serve.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jon:
No
gluten, no dairy, and no sugar. Raise
your hand if this would kill you. My
hand is up. Geez, I spent years
subsisting off nothing but cereal, pasta, sandwiches, quesadillas, and various
poisonous fast food items. All of those
things have gluten, dairy, or sugar... except for maybe the fast food, which is
not really food at all, rather a combination of laboratory-concocted
contagions, and therefore may be exempt from having any actual food-related
properties.
Despite
her crazy dietary restrictions, Hethyr has somehow managed to work pizza into
her diet. And quesadillas. And grilled cheese. And ice cream.
And chocolate. She eats almost
like a non-restricted person... even better, most of the time. The only catch is that she spends about
thirty hours a day in the kitchen. But creativity
and ingenuity go a long way when it comes to cooking. I think half the edibles in our refrigerator
were made out of nuts. The other half
grew out of the ground. The other half
came from happy animals. (We don't cover
fractions until April in first grade, so I'm doing the best I can).
It's
been a tough stretch with Terry's death and Hethyr's Lyme disease
diagnosis. When things get difficult in
life, you've got to find happiness, solace, and healing where you can. Food can supply all three of these
things. More specifically, PIZZA can
supply all three of these things. Pizza
should win a Nobel Prize for awesomeness.
Of course it's questionable whether gluten-free pizza can actually be called pizza much of the time. But Hethyr's recipe rocks. Yes, it's true that my liberal
"open-minded" palate is easy to please with food. But I assure you, this dough is delicious. All you GFers should give it a try and see
for yourselves.
All I can say is YUM!
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