Homemade Gluten Free Pierogi!

I wrote this post a few months ago, but didn't post because I couldn't find my pictures. I wanted to make sure I shared it though, because it's just so yummy! Once I make them again I will update with some images and the step by step pictures.

Enjoy!!


So, last year I took on the inevitably impossible task of adding one new recipe or natural product review post each day in 2012... While I did manage to post 43 actual recipes and a few reviews, life work and business got away from me. The outlet of the blog, however, was a fun way for me to share some of the ridiculous number of new recipes we tried but I never had the opportunity to write up. 
One of the biggest recipe feats that I was unable to accomplish was making homemade gluten free pasta.  I want to assert that while I have some great kitchen appliances, my kitchen lacks the storage space for things like pasta attachments and presses; when I say homemade, I should be saying HANDMADE.
Except making simple fettuccine or lasagna was not enough for this overachiever. No no no... I had to take on the task of making pierogi. (I've been told that the plural of pierogi is pierogi... But, I'm not Polish, so just bear with me if I'm wrong).
When I searched online for traditional recipes I was quickly reminded that there's really no such thing as a "traditional" recipe online and nearly everyone thinks they hold the holy grail of original recipes.

Gluten Free Pierogi

GF, NF, SF... Sorry dairy free folks, you can always use dairy substitutes though :)

Ingredients
Filling:
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 Tbs butter, to saute the onion
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
6-7 scallions
3 Tbs butter for potatoes
2 Tbs minced garlic
1/4 cup milk
1/2 lb. of white cheddar, shredded
Salt and fresh black pepper (to taste)

Dough:
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
3 Tbs sour cream
4.5 cups  pasta flour blend (3 cups will definitely be used, reserve the other 1.5 cups to be used as needed while making the dough)
   1.5 cup brown rice flour
   1.5 cup corn flour
   1.5 cup tapioca starch
1 Tbs Xanthan Gum
1 or 2 eggs to make an egg wash to seal the pierogi

When cooking:
2 to 4 tablespoons butter, to saute the pierogi
1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Boil the potatoes in a pot of water. Boil the potatoes until tender.

Sauté the onion in a frying pan in 2 tablespoons of butter until translucent. 

Whisk together the eggs, 1/4 cup water and sour cream.

Put 3 cups of the flour blend in the center of a clean work surface, I use a kitchenaid silicone mat, but a clean table lined with plastic wrap would work.

Create a hole in the center of the mound. Pour about 1/2 of the egg mixture in to it.

Slowly integrate the flour into the egg mixture

Repeat the process with the remainder of the egg mixture into the crater, and again until you have combined all the egg mixture.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest while you finish the potatoes

Drain the potatoes and mash them with the sautéed onion, chives, butter, cheese, milk, and salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

Create an egg wash by gently beating 1 egg in a small bowl.

Cut 3-inch circles of pasta, spoon some of the mashed potatoes into the center and fold the filled circles in semicircles... sealing the edges with the egg wash and pressing shut with your fingers. (you can also do this with the tines of a fork).

Bring a large shallow saute pan of water to a boil with a pinch of salt and gently boil the pierogi... removing carefully to a plate. 

Finally, melt the butter in a large pan and sauté the garlic for a few minutes until it is tender... don't burn it! Sauté the pierogi in this and serve.

The recipe makes about...  30 pierogi. Isaac, my son, told me I should make mashed potatoes the same way I made the filling from now on. He said this as he tried to sneak samples by the forkful!

Let me know how it works for you!

Naturally,

Raych

Tie-Dyed Gluten Free Waffles, A Birthday Treat!

Today's post is a remake on an older favorite recipe. August 10th is my "little" big man's birthday. This year he turned five. So, being the awesome mommy that I am... I thought I would mix him up something special for breakfast. I vaguely remembered seeing a post on Pinterest about colored waffles and thought I would give it a try.

Tie-Dyed Gluten Free Waffles

A Special Birthday Treat

 

To recreate this you will have to first visit my post from around this point last year to get the recipe for my GF waffles... Click Here.

After mixing the batter, I put out 4 large plastic cups and lined them with large "zipping" food bags (no endorsements here, folks). I divided the batter into the four cups and then colored each one with a different food color blend. For the tie-dye effect I made red, blue, green and orange. I didn't do a

yellow because the batter itself is pretty yellow... if I had wanted it in there I probably would have left a bag with no color or only a few drops or yellow. The coloring is completely up to you, but I will tell you that a couple colors took quite a few (12) drops; and the red still came out more pink than crimson.

Too top the perfect birthday breakfast I rimmed some mugs with chocolate and sprinkles and poured hot cocoa in.

My sons both continued to eat the leftover waffles throughout the day. For snack, dipped in applesauce... randomly and dry... with blackberries from the bushes in our yard... They do not have a lot of sugar (except when doused in maple syrup like they did this morning) so I didn't feel bad letting them snack away. The color made them think they were eating something bad for them and getting a real treat!

I think this will become a birthday tradition, or at least something like this. Five years have flown by, but we have at least 16 more to go with at least one kiddo in the house!

Let me know your thoughts if you try it out on your own :)

Naturally,

Raych

Summer Recipes: Gluten Free Peach Cobbler

Ok folks, consider this your warning. I have adapted a Paula Deen recipe to make it gluten free. What this ultimately means it that this recipe is in no way dairy free--- READ: There is Buttah’ and Milk.

It is peach season here in the northeast. That means a surplus of peach recipes to share. I went with my little men to pick up some peaches yesterday. Actually, I went to PICK peaches with them, while my husband was out of town working. Yep, I’m insane. Luckily for me, our local orchard is in-between varieties of peaches- so we had to settle for one of the remaining bags of the last variety that was stored in their cooler. What this meant is that we brought home a good sized bag of juicy, ripe, “ready to eat yesterday” peaches.

Gluten Free Peach Cobbler

(An adaptation of Paula Deen's Recipe)

GF, CoF, SF, NF

Ingredients

• 8 peaches peeled & sliced2 cups sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp xanthan gum
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Ground cinnamon, optional

This is what the pre-baked product
will look like.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a large baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, salt, baking soda.

Pour in milk slowly to prevent clumping.

Pour mixture over melted butter. DO NOT STIR.

Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup.

Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using.

Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for approx. 45 minutes. You will notice some browning on the edges.

 

Paula Deen recommends: “To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream“. At this point you have used a quarter pound of butter, so why not? I, however, did not want to feel junky for 2 days, so we skipped it today.

In her recipe, the biscuit rises way above the peaches making this amazing looking fluffy crust- even though the batter starts on the bottom. In the GF adaptation is doesn't rise quite as much, though you will see it come around the edges. My guess is that the brown rice flour outweighs the peaches and juices. The result was still absolutely delicious despite this lack of top crust; and you'll still get a laky puffy crust on the bottom. You're scooping this into a bowl to serve... A bowl that it really won't last long in anyway, I see no problem.

With just a little more time on my hands during the summer I have put together a few new recipes that I am hoping to start posting again. I'm a little less lofty in my goals though- if I can post once a week, I'll be a happy camper.

Let me know your thoughts!

 

Naturally,

 

Raych