About Feast Everyday

Based in Corning, New York and the beautiful Finger Lakes. Started in 2009 by Barbara Blumer with her family and friends. Her husband, Tom, now regularly contributes, too.

Over 900 Recipes and still growing

From muffins to curries with step-by-step photos and how-to tips: see recipe index https://feasteveryday.blogspot.com/p/recipes-index.html

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Friday, September 29, 2017

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Surprisingly Good
UPDATED 2020
Our niece, Emily, will be visiting next weekend and is allergic to wheat, so I thought I would try making gluten free pumpkin bread .  I made two loaves.
One for us to try now, and one to freeze for her visit.  The one I made with Libbey's pumpkin turned out better than the one I made with organic Wegman's pumpkin.  Not sure why.
The texture isn't like a regular pumpkin bread, but more like a pudding cake.  Very moist and very pumpkin-y.

For a recipe, it's from my go-to resource for baking, King Arthur Flour which I copied from their website.

---Barbara

AT A GLANCE

PREP
15 mins.
BAKE
60 mins. to 1 hrs 5 mins.
TOTAL
1 hrs 15 mins. to 1 hrs 20 mins.
YIELD
one 9" loaf, about 18 servings
Baker's Hotline
This moist, nicely spicy pumpkin loaf is so good, you'd never suspect it's both gluten-free and dairy-free.

  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 can (15-ounce) pumpkin purée
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour or brown rice flour blend*
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or substitute 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
  • up to 1 cup chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or other add-ins
  • *See recipe for this blend below.

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf inch pan.
  2. Whisk together the eggs, molasses, pumpkin purée and oil. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together the gluten-free flour or brown rice flour blend, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
  4. Add the egg mixture about half at a time, whisking until combined after each addition. Stir in any desired add-ins.
  5. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, and let it rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar, if desired.
  6. Bake the bread for 60 to 65 minutes, until the middle springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the top-center comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely for easiest slicing.
  7. Store, well-wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
  8. Yield: 1 loaf, about 18 servings.
  9. *Make your own blend
    Many of our gluten-free recipes use our King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour, which includes ingredients that reduce the grittiness sometimes found in gluten-free baked goods. Our flour also increases the shelf life of your treats, keeping them fresh longer.

    The following make-at-home blend, featuring stabilized brown rice flour, works pretty well when substituted; and it tastes better than a blend using regular brown rice flour.

    Whisk together 6 cups (28 1/2 ounces) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour; 2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch; and 1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch. Store airtight at room temperature. Note: You can substitute white rice flour for the brown rice flour if you like; it'll make your baked goods grittier (unless you manage to find a finely ground version).
I started by making the blend of flour recommended, because I couldn't find the King Arthur gluten free flour.

Our grocery store now has a gluten free section so it was easy to find all three ingredients. The xanthan gum, a thickening agent, was also easy to find among the Red Mill brand.

It is an easy recipe.  I prepared the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another, larger bowl and chose to add dark chocolate chips as my add-in.
Then, the wet ingredients are mixed into the dry, and the chips stirred in.  Pour into a well-greased pan and bake for 60-65 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  (I wish I had let mine bake another 5 minutes.)

I would normally make Fanny Farmer's pumpkin bread which is now featured on the home page of Feast Everyday, click here.  Or Laddie's Pumpkin Bread, click here, which was sent in by Colleen in 2010.  Or I make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins when we have guests, click here.

But I must say, this is a fine pumpkin bread recipe, gluten free and all.

B

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Windflowers


I have been asked what the flower is on the masthead of Feast Everyday. It is my favorite fall flower, the windflower, or anemone.

If you just get my emails and don't visit the actual Feast Everyday website, then you might not be seeing them.

Windflowers bloom profusely in the fall, and are a welcome sight, when everything else is starting to die back.

My favorite, and the one shown here, is Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

It grows tall, between 3 and 4 ft, on thin, but strong, stems among large, dark-green leafy clumps.
Windflowers (anemones) in our backyard
Even in our recent, dry hot conditions ---we've gone 2 weeks now without rain and temperatures above 80 degrees---they are holding their own in our garden. 

I first saw them in the beautiful gardens behind the George Eastman Museum (of Kodak photography fame) in Rochester, and learned that they are a traditional English garden flower, in cultivation since it was discovered in 1858 by M. Jobert in Verdun, France.

As with most perennials, it takes about 3 years for them to become well-established, but they are well worth the wait. 

BHB

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Grape Pie

Grape pies are popular in our area, the Finger Lakes region of New York state, during the late summer and early fall.   They are sold at farm stands and in local bakeries.  We found ours at Indian Pines Farm Market in Penn Yan.  
They are made with Concord grapes, the kind of grape that is used in grape jelly and grape juice here in the U.S.   
We chose one with a crumb crust, but you can also get them with a traditional double pie crust.

Yes, it tastes a little like grape jelly but it is also tart like cranberries.  And this particular pie has a good ratio of filling to crust so it isn't overly sweet and cloying as some grape pies can be.  

This is a Jeni's Pie from nearby Naples and she says she uses pastry flour, soybean oil, butter, sugar, Concord grapes, and flour.  

I asked the woman running the farm stand if she had made a grape pie and she said only one and that was enough!  

And that she said to her husband,  "I hope you are enjoying that grape pie, because it is the only one that I am ever going to make."  I asked her why and she said that it was too much work.  You have to separate the skins, boil down the grapes, remove all the seeds, etc, etc, etc.  

But in case you do decide to try making a grape pie, the recipe from the late Irene Bouchard, who died in 2015 at age 98, known as the Grape Pie Queen of Naples is featured here on Saveur's website.  

B

Friday, September 22, 2017

Irish Shortbread

Irish Shortbread
Hi Barb--

Irish shortbread is really just a substitution of cornstarch for about 1/4 -1/3 of the flour you would normally use in a recipe. Otherwise it is just butter, powdered sugar and flour. 

It does give a different texture. Less crunchy, more like a pastry. It was a nice variation. 
The Irish secret ingredient

It might also work well where shortbread is the base of a recipe. I often find that they are hard to cut, and the knife just slides through the cornstarch version. "

The recipe I used was from Just a Pinch recipes by Laura Broyles.  https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cookies/real-deal-irish-shortbread-cookies.html

But when I was looking for a recipe I noticed that the ratio varied between flour and cornstarch.  Here it is 2:1.  But I think you could do a little less; 3:1. 

I have noticed that when I make shortbread that uses cocoa, the texture really changes and is softer. I’m guessing it is because cocoa powder acts much like the cornstarch and absorbs more moisture.  

When I made this recipe I used a large 11 x 16 pan and spread out the dough evenly.  It took about 18-20 minutes to bake.  

If you used a smaller pan (9x13) you would need to increase the baking time.  The recipe describes making round dough balls but doesn’t specify the size.  Then she notes that she used a 10 x3 pan and baked for 25 minutes, but that seems like a misprint to me.  

One, I don’t know anyone who has a 10x3 pan, and even if you did, I don’t think the dough would bake through in 25 minutes as it would be so thick.   I based my baking time on other shortbread that I have made.  You just need to check as you go and not let the shortbread get too brown.  Mine was just beginning to turn brown at the edges, but remained pale in the center.

Be sure to use salted butter.  If you don’t have, add a little bit of salt to the dough.  Also, when I took the pan out to cool, I let it sit about 20-25 minutes and then cut the shortbread while still warm with a sharp knife.
I also sprinkled the top with sanding sugar before baking.  You can use colored sanding sugar to make the cookies match a holiday theme.  

I suppose you could also roll the dough and do cut outs, but I find that to be very time consuming as you generally need to refrigerate your dough prior to rolling and then again after you’ve cut out the cookies so they don’t spread too much while baking.  With this dough I just mixed it up and pressed it into the pan and baked.  

Ready, set, BAAAAAAKE!  (I miss Mel!)

---Colleen