Gluten Free Taco Pie

GF Taco Pie

Author: Betty Crocker

Prep Time: 15 min.   Total Time: 50 min.   Serves 6

Ingredients
    •    1lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
    •    1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
    •    1 package (1 oz) gluten-free taco seasoning mix
    •    1 can (4.5 oz) gluten-free chopped green chiles, drained
    •    2 eggs
    •    1 cup milk
    •    1/2 cup Bisquick™ Gluten Free mix
    •    3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese (3 oz)
    •    3/4 cup chopped tomato
    •    1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce, if desired
    •    Salsa, if desired
    •    Gluten-free sour cream, if desired

Directions
    1.    Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in seasoning mix. Spoon into pie plate. Top with chiles.
    2.    In small bowl, stir eggs, milk and Bisquick mix until blended. Pour into pie plate.
    3.    Bake about 25 minutes. Top with cheese and tomato; bake 2 to 3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve with lettuce, salsa and sour cream.
    
Expert Tips
    •    Try other toppings like shredded lettuce, sliced green onions, chopped black olives, guacamole or crushed corn chips.
    •    Always read labels to make sure each recipe ingredient is gluten free. Products and ingredient sources can change.

 

How To Store a Gluten Free Bread

Gluten-free bread recipes are the holy grail of gluten-free baking. It’s within reach, when you have the right gluten-free bread recipe. And once you’ve read up on my Top 10 Secrets To Making Good Gluten-Free Bread. But what about once you’ve made it, and you want to use it to make your family’s back-to-school lunches—How do you store that homemade gluten free bread?

Here are the 10 rules to live by.

But first, are you scared to make gluten-free yeast bread? Try the White Sandwich Bread recipe(that’s what you see in the photo above) on page 104 of My Cookbook. It’s your best chance at early success, and it’s my family’s everyday bread. Now on to those rules…

1. When it’s first baked, store homemade gluten free bread it in a breadbox. And make sure the bread has enough empty space around it that air can circulate around it. A closed breadbox retains some moisture in the box, so the bread doesn’t dry out, but doesn’t hold it so close to the bread that it makes it soggy.

2. Never store homemade gluten free bread in a sealed plastic bag at room temperature. The moisture in the bread will condense and cling to the bread, making it terribly soggy.

3. Never store homemade gluten free bread in a paper bag. The paper bag will itself become moist from humidity in the surrounding air, and your bread will become soggy.

4. Never store gluten free bread in the refrigerator (homemade or store-bought). The refrigerator is designed to keep moisture at bay, as moisture tends to spoil food. Storing bread in the refrigerator will dry out your bread in a hurry.

5. Store leftover gluten free bread that is older than 3 to 4 days (depending upon humidity levels in your kitchen) in the freezer. To prevent freezer burn due to loss of moisture, first wrap bread tightly in a freezer-safe wrap. I really like Glad Press’n Seal freezer wrap. It is sturdy and clings tight to whatever you wrap in it.

6. If you don’t expect to use all of the frozen gluten free bread at once, consider slicing it before wrapping and freezing it. That way, you should be able to defrost just what you need without compromising the rest of the loaf.

7. Cool homemade gluten free bread completely before placing it in a breadbox or other container, and before freezing it. Otherwise, the moisture in the bread that would have evaporated upon cooling will instead condense and ruin any hope of crispness.

8. Never slice into homemade GF bread before it is completely cool. It won’t hold its shape, so you won’t get a clean slice. It’s so hard to wait. Try try and try again.

9. Leave a fresh loaf of homemade GF bread whole, unsliced, until you are ready to use it. The crust will help keep the bread from going stale.

10. Once you have sliced into a loaf of homemade GF bread, when you store it in a breadbox, store it with the cut side down, to minimize staleness.

Homemade Pumpkin Butter

At great long last, here’s how I make pumpkin butter. Now get baking!

Prep time: 5 minutes       Cook time: 1 hour or about 10 minutes, depending upon method      Yield: About 4 cups pumpkin butter

Ingredients

1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) sugar/baking pumpkin or 2 28-ounce cans pumpkin puree
1/2 cup (168 g) pure maple syrup
3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) apple cider or apple juice
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
*To make your own pumpkin pie spice, combine 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger + 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves + 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

Directions

• If using a regular sugar/baking pumpkin, preheat your oven to 375°F. Remove the stem and, with a large, sharp knife, cut the pumpkin in half through the middle. Scoop out all of the seeds (dry them, toss them with plenty of kosher salt, spread them in an even layer and toast them in a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat or in a 300°F oven until lightly golden brown and fragrant) and place the pumpkin halves, cut side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the pumpkin halves are fork-tender and the flesh has begun to shrink away from the skin (about 45 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool before scooping out the flesh and pureeing in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• In a medium heavy-bottom stockpot, combine the pumpkin puree with the maple syrup, apple cider (or juice) and pumpkin pie spice. Mix to combine well and then simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until reduced by at least half.
• Allow to cool completely before baking with it. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Love,
Me

P.S. Have you already pre-ordered Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread? If you do, it will ship to you from amazon in just over 3 weeks!!!!!!

Sea Salt Caramels

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup Karo light corn syrup
• 1 cup evaporated milk (note: this is NOT a full can)
• 1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. First calibrate your thermometer by placing in boiling water for 10 minutes. It should read 212°. If it doesn't, adjust your goal temperature for this recipe based on how many degrees you are off. For instance, my thermometer always registers 210°, so I cook my caramel until it reaches 246° instead of 248° like the recipe calls for.
2. Line a jelly roll pan (11"x15") with parchment paper and lightly spray or butter the sides where the parchment paper doesn't cover.
3. In a large pot, combine the sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream, butter, and sea salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. I cook over the largest burner on my gas stove on a heat setting of 4. Be sure that you are constantly scraping the sides, edges, and bottom of the pan, and do not leave unattended for more than a couple of seconds.
4. Continue stirring, monitoring the temperature with a candy thermometer, until thermometer reaches 248°. The temperature reading will probably bounce up and down a bit, so I recommend stopping once you get three readings of 248°. On my gas stove, this takes me about 45 minutes; on my electric stove, this took closer to an hour.
5. When it reaches 248°, remove immediately from heat, remove the candy thermometer, and stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Immediately pour out the caramel into the lined jelly roll pan. Spread evenly with your spatula.
7. Wait 10-15 minutes, then sprinkle the surface of the caramels with large flake sea salt to your liking. If you sprinkle too soon, the salt just soaks in, too late, and it has trouble sticking to the surface.
8. When cooled completely, it is easy to lift out the parchment paper with the whole slab of caramel on it and place on a cutting board. I recommend using a sharp pizza cutter to cut into square or rectangle caramels. I usually do rectangles that are 1" x 2" and can get about 100 caramels, leaving us the edges to snack on.
9. Store at room temperature. If you allow these to chill or freeze, they will harden.

Notes

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Gluten Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe Ingredients 1 - 20 ounce can pineapple slices in pineapple juice 7 whole maraschino cherries 1½ cup Carol's Amazing All Purpose Gluten Free Flour or other all purpose gluten free flour blend (make sure it contains xanthan gum) 1½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt 3 large eggs, separated 1 cup granulated sugar 1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract ½ cup unsalted butter 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark), firmly packed Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain the canned pineapple reserving ½ cup of the juice. Lay the pineapple slices (you should have 10 slices) and the maraschino cherries on a layer of paper towel and pat them then dry with another paper towel. Cut 3 of the pineapple slices in half. Whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, reserved ½ cup of pineapple juice and vanilla until smooth. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and combine well. With an electric mixer beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the egg whites into the batter, combining well. In a 10 inch cast iron skillet melt the butter over medium heat. When melted carefully swirl the pan so that the butter coats the sides of the pan. Add the brown sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar has melted into the butter and is lump free, about 1 minute. Let the sugar mixture cool very slightly then lay in the pineapple slices carefully so you do not burn yourself. Start with the center, put one whole pineapple slice in the center then arrange the other six whole slices around it. Place the halve slices in the spaces between the whole slices around the outer edge, the curved side facing toward the center. Place a whole maraschino cherry in the center of each of the whole pineapple slices. Pour the batter over the pineapples and cherries and bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cook for 2 minutes, run a knife around the outer edge then invert on a serving platter and let finish cooling. Make sure you do not let the cake cool too long before inverting or the caramel will harden and the pineapple slices will stick to the bottom of the pan.  Servings    Makes 10 - 12 gluten free servings.