Gluten Free Berry-Orange Coffee Cakes

I have a soft spot in my heart for coffee cake. When I was first learning to bake my mom gave me one of her old cookbooks and I discovered coffee cake. I think I must have made at least one coffee cake a month for about six months. I was in love. As I became more confident in my baking skills I tried harder coffee cake recipes and once I was in college I discovered the great flavor that rum can add. There is something so great about sitting down with a great cup of coffee and homemade coffee cake. Regardless of the time of the day it just feels right. Now when I first went gluten free I thought I would have to give up my beloved coffee cake. Then I decided I would just learn to bake differently. I tried approximately 4 coffee cake recipes that were horrible. I almost gave up. Then I decided to try one more recipe and it came out perfect. So now I am back to regularly baking coffee cake again. On Thanksgiving morning I tried a new recipe for Berry-Orange Coffee Cakes from the November issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, which looked delicious and perfect for converting to gluten free.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of baking time, 10 minutes of prep and makes 15 cakes. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. When baking gluten free I always use muffin tin liners. Gluten free muffins tend to stick to the pan easier than their gluten counterparts. My favorite gluten free all-purpose flour uses coconut flour as a base and that it what I used in this recipe. I decided to use slightly less ginger than the recipe suggested, probably approximately one tablespoon instead of two. My two kids aren't big fans of walnuts so I left them off of the top of the cakes as well as the orange peel. Finally, since I made these cakes gluten free I found the baking time to be 5 minutes longer than the recipe suggest. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These cakes were very popular on Thanksgiving morning. I left off the glaze on my servings, but put them on my boys cakes. They were flakier than regular wheat muffins, but had a great soft taste. My two in-laws were in town for the week and both thought that these cakes were delicious. If you like ginger you could use the full amount suggested by the recipe or you can reduce the amount like I did. Overall, a great gluten free baking recipe.

For the recipe go to Berry-Orange Coffee Cakes. (registration required)

Pesto Calabrese

This has been a long week, sorry for the lack of posts. I promise I will be back to regular blogging next week. So without further ado, pesto. Growing up there was one food that my mother absolutely adored, eggplant. My father and I however, we not fans in the least. I would literally groan with my mother would come in from the farmer's market with a big bag full of eggplant. She was a good sport and tried recipe after recipe to no avail. When I was in college I survived on coffee and pancakes (really I did, it was cheap for a whole box and I paid my own way through school). I didn't think about or eat eggplant for many years after moving out of my parents house. Then I met my husband and wouldn't you know he loved eggplant as much as my mother had. So what to do. Well, I decided that instead of fighting against the eggplant I would surrender. That didn't mean that I wouldn't find some great recipes to try and hope that maybe, just maybe eggplant could be redeemed. It turned out that as an adult I love eggplant, when cooked the right way. One of the ways that I have found that my whole family loves eggplant is in pasta, so I was quick to want to try the new Pesto Calabrese recipe in a recent issue of Saveur magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes to prep and cook and makes 1 1/2 cups of pesto. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no ingredient modifications. My onions took slightly longer than the 10 minutes suggested by the recipe. I really don't watch the clock when caramelizing onions, I just watch until they are adequately browned. After all the ingredients were combined I cooked them an additional couple of minutes to ensure all the flavor was released. Most important of all make sure to salt. This pesto requires a decent amount of salt in the finished dish, so don't be afraid of the salt shaker. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I like the idea of this dish. Eggplant is delicious in pasta dishes, but this pesto needs a few changes. I found the pesto to be to sweet with not enough flavor to compensate for the sweetness. I would suggest adding crushed red pepper flakes. This would give the pesto a much needed kick and the amount can be adjusted to suit your tastes. Alternatively chili oil might also work if you have it. With the addition of a little heat I think this pesto would be a great way to use eggplant.

For the recipe go to Pesto Calabrese.

Saveur Spaghetti and Meatballs

I love spaghetti and meatballs. There are few foods as comforting as a huge plate of homemade spaghetti and sauce. I have nothing against jarred pasta sauce, but it can't hold a candle to day long simmered homemade. Especially in the summer when tomatoes are fresh homemade sauce is delicious from the first to the last bite. Growing up my mother was the queen of doctoring up store bought sauces. She would add onion, basil, and oregano and serve it as homemade. In every other way my mother was a fabulous cook, but pasta sauce was never her strong suit. Luckily I was able to learn to create great tasting pasta sauce from friends and family that I still use as base for my homemade sauce to this day. Always up to trying new things, I was interested when a recent issue of Saveur Magazine had a recipe for Spaghetti and Meatballs combining three types of meat.

This recipe has 19 ingredients. It takes approximately an hour and half to prep and cook and makes 8 servings. I made a few modifications to the recipe. First off I always grind my own meat, which I did with the pork and beef in this recipe. I would have loved to have ground my own veal, but my local stores only carry it pre-ground. Second I was unable to find provolone that wasn't sliced, so I actually had to shred my cheese using cheese slices, luckily it worked pretty well. The biggest changes I made the recipe were the size of the meatballs and the cooking time. To make 6 oz meatballs seemed extreme to me, especially when feeding two kids, so I made my meatballs substantially smaller. I also found that the liquid evaporated from my sauce very quickly, so make sure to watch the sauce so it doesn't get too dry.

The meatballs are the best part of this recipe. They were moist and had a great flavor. The sauce was a little too sweet, it would almost be better on a hoggie with the sauce and banana peppers. However. the meatballs are well worth the recipe and my family loved them. I would suggest adding an additional can of tomatoes to cut down on the sweetness and possibly crushed red pepper. Overall, a kid friendly recipe that still appeals to adults.

Better Homes and Gardens Stuffed Pasta

My favorite memories growing up often revolved around food. Not just any food, but pasta. I have absolutely loved pasta as far back as I can remember and whenever I was allowed to pick a restaurant as a kid I would pick the Italian place that had the best ravioli (still the best to this day). As an adult my love of pasta has only increased and I tend to make a pasta recipe about once every week or two. The rest of my family shares my love of pasta and pasta dishes tend to be household favorites. Recently, the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine had a recipe for Stuffed Pasta which looked easy and claimed to be a complete meal all by itself.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It serves 8 people and takes approximately 50 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of baking time. My recipe took an additional 15 minutes to grind my own beef. I actually had to make a few substitutions due to the lack of availability of certain ingredients. I was unable to find dried jumbo pasta shells, so I used regular pasta shells. Since I had to substitute the pasta, I obviously had to make some significant changes to the recipe. Instead of stuffing pasta I made a casserole by layering the sauce, cheese and meat mixture, and pasta.I increased the cooking time by about 10 minutes and tented the pan the last 20 minutes. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Since I had to make major changes to the recipe, I'm not sure what the original recipe would taste like. The modified casserole that I did make turned out well. Make sure to adequately salt at all steps, or the dish will be undersalted. Other than the lack of salt, this was a very easy and popular recipe with my family, especially my two boys. A straightforward and easy pasta recipe that makes enough for multiple meals.


For the recipe go to Stuffed Shells.

Better Homes and Gardens Gemelli with Asparagus and Sausage

My family really loves pasta. Growing up the one dish I would always eat that my mother made was pasta. I loved it anyway she prepared it and ate multiple servings. My two boys have inherited my love of all things pasta and ask for it frequently. I make pasta about once a week, so I am always looking for new ways to prepare it. The September issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine had a recipe for Gemelli with Asparagus and Sausage, which looked different than my usual pasta routine and very easy to prepare.

This recipe has 11 ingredients (if you use the optional ingredients). The total time start to finish is approximately 40 minutes. All the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store. I did make a few modifications in order to save money. Instead of using asparagus, which can be quite expensive, I used broccoli. Instead of bulk Italian sausage, I bough linked sausage and took it out of the casing. I did use pine nuts, since I already had some in my cupboard from previous recipes. Finally, I used whole milk ricotta instead of the sheep's milk cheese. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys liked this recipe. I liked that the prep work was minimal and the dish turned out well. My husband took the leftovers to work the next day and they re-heated great. Substituting the broccoli for the asparagus was a great way to save money and tasted delicious. Overall, an easy pasta dish with vegetables and protein which can easily be made in less than an hour.

For the recipe go to Gemelli with Asparagus and Sausage.