Gluten Free Pizza in Great Falls

I received an e-mail with information on gluten free pizza in Great Falls, thanks Sue! Boston's The Gourmet Pizza has gluten free crusts available. They only come in small but the report is that they are thin and taste like real pizza. Score one for Great Falls!

Boston's The Gourmet Pizza is located at 1101 7th St South and you can contact them at 406-761-2788. Their menu is available online if you want to check it out.

Baked French Toast, Gluten Free

A few months ago I tried to make some gluten free rolls, they didn't turn out. They tasted fine but they were way too dry. I hate to waste anything and instead of throwing them out I turned them into French Toast but baked them. This is a great way to use up dry GF bread.

Baked French Toast

Adapted from Cooks.com

1/3 stick butter

1/3 C brown sugar

1 t cinnamon

6 eggs, beaten

1 C milk

Dash salt

6 pieces dry GF bread, 1/2 inch thick (I just cut my rolls in half)

Melt the butter and pour in the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon on top. Lay the bread in the pan. Mix the eggs, milk, and salt then pour over the bread. Refrigerate overnight and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 45 minutes in the morning. You don't need to serve it with maple syrup but it sure doesn't hurt.

Gold Fish Crackers Recipe, Gluten Free

My boy had a gluten free meltdown at a birthday party a couple weeks ago, there were gold fish crackers everyone was enjoying and he broke down (had a complete temper tantrum) because he couldn't have them. I felt bad for him (as I removed him from the party) and motivated myself to try my hand again at gluten free gold fish crackers. The first batch I made months ago was too salty and we ended up throwing them out, they just weren't very good. This time I added some sour cream and we were all pleased with the outcome. Both kids couldn't stop eating them and my boy was a happy kid. He stated that we couldn't eat them all because he wants to take some on vacation, I'm not so sure they'll last another week and a half. I'm going to play around with different cheeses down the road but this is a basic cheddar cracker and we're all very happy with the results.

Super Gold Fish Crackers

Adapted from Yumsugar

1 C GF flour (I used Gluten Free Mama's Almond blend)

1/2 t xantham gum or guar gum

4 T cold butter, cut into small pieces

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated

3/4 t salt

1/2 t ground pepper

2 T sour cream

2 T water

In a large mixer combine the flour, xantham gum, butter, cheese, salt and pepper. Either use a hand blender, blender, or food processer (I need to get me one of these) to grind up the mixture until it resembles corn meal. Put it back in the mixer and add the sour cream and water and mix until it forms a ball. Add more water if needed but don't add too much, the dough will be on the dry side.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes to 24 hours. If the dough gets too cold you may need to let it warm a bit before you can easily roll it out.

Heat the oven to 350 F. Place 1/3 of the dough on wax paper and cover with a second piece of wax paper. This is the best way I've found to roll out GF dough. Using a rolling pin roll it to 1/8" thickness and cut out your desired shapes. We used gold fish cookie cutters that I found here they measure about 2 inches long and are the smallest I could find. Place the cut outs on a cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining dough.

I rolled the first batch too thick and it made a flaky cracker that was chewy. Obviously the thinner you roll the crispier the crackers will be.

Peanut Butter Pie

A turkey dinner just isn't complete without pie and this one is rich and delicious but also easy to make. I opted for it because it meant I didn't need to make a standard pie crust, I was feeling a bit lazy.

First the pie crust, I used Pamela's chocolate mini cookies for the crust, first off I love snacking on these as they are a bit too much but they make a great pie crust. You can use any GF chocolate cooke here but this recipe is from the back of the bag.

Cookie Pie Crust

1 bag (7 oz) GF cookies crumbled

3 T butter

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl then add the cookie crumbs. Mix together then pat into a pie pan. Bake for 5 minutes in a preheated 350 F oven. Allow it to cool before adding the pie filling.

Peanut Butter Pie

Adapted from Pillsbury Best of the Bake Off

Filling

1 C butter

1 C brown sugar

1 C peanut butter

12 oz frozen whipped topping*

In a medium saucepan combine the butter and brown sugar. Cook until the mixture is smooth stirring frequently. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl beat the peanut butter and brown sugar mixture on low until well blended. Beat 1 minute on medium-high then add the whipped topping and beat an additional minute on low or until it's smooth and well mixed. I take a spatula and stir a few times to make sure it's evenly mixed.

Pour into the chocolate cookie crust and refrigerate.

*Since we avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup I usually make my own whipped topping since all of the common brands contain HFCS. However I have found TruWhip in the frozen section at Rosauer's Huckleberry's Market and it is free of HFCS. It works perfectly when I'm not in the mood to make whipped topping from scratch.




Chocolate Topping

1/2 C choclate chips
1 T butter
2-3 t milk
1 1/2 t agave

In a small saucepan melt the chocolate chips, butter, milk, and agave over low heat stirring constantly until smooth. Add additional milk if needed to get a desired spreading consistency.

Spoon over the peanut butter pie filling and gently spread over the top of the pie. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

I suggest cutting it into small pieces because this pie is rich!

Turkey Potato Casserole

I like turkey leftovers for the casserole options out there, I'm not a huge fan of turkey sandwiches though. I've pulled apart my leftover turkey and froze it in 2 cup bags; it makes it easy to pop out of the freezer for a delicious casserole. This one is Hubby's favorite and it's simple to throw together if you have leftover mashed potatoes. Instant potatoes will also work for the topping.

There are a few GF canned mushroom soups out there, some of them cause me to react digestively to the preservatives in them but the Walnut Acres soup didn't give me any problems. The only place I've seen this is Oak Street Natural Market, I haven't really looked for it anywhere else. It's not as thick as some of the other GF cream of mushroom soups so try the different brands and see which one you like best. I know Healthy Valley makes a GF soup and you can find it at most grocery stores.

Turkey Potato Casserole
Adapted from All Recipes


2 C cooked turkey, shredded
1 onion, chopped
2 cans green beans, drained
1 can GF cream of mushroom soup
16 oz cheddar cheese, shredded - use Daiya for a DF option
4 C prepared mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a 9x13 baking dish layer the turkey evenly on the bottom. Top with the onion and green beans. Pour the soup over the beans and sprinkle 4 oz cheese on top. Mix together the mashed potatoes and 8 oz of cheese then spread over the casserole and seal the edges.

Bake for 40 minutes or until heated through. Top with the remaining 4 oz of cheese and bake until it's melted.

Breads From Anna Herb Bread Review

I really like the Breads from Anna mixes, the texture is the closest to gluten bread I have had so far and they taste wonderful. For meals I really like to use the Herb Bread mix to make rolls and I made them for our turkey dinner this past weekend. They turned out so nice that our gluten eating guests went back for seconds and took some of them home, that's a good sign.

To make the rolls follow the directions for a bread loaf but use a large scoop (my Pampered Chef one worked really well) to make the rolls. Smooth the tops with your fingers, make sure they're a little wet, and allow to rise. Bake for 10 min uncovered then cover and bake another 10 minutes.

The only place in Bozeman I've seen these mixes is Oak Street Natural Market. They are a bit on the pricey side so I save them for special occasions, well worth the splurge now and then.

Southern Dressing

I had a 22 pound turkey taking up room in my freezer and it was finally time to cook the bird. We had some friends over to help us get rid of the goods and I finally tried out this delicious dressing recipe. Of course I'll have some other turkey related recipes to accompany this but they will show up in due time. I changed some of the ingredients so check out the original recipe if you want to add Italian sausage or roasted pine nuts.

Southern Dressing

Adapted from All Recipes

6 oz bacon

2 onions, chopped

7 stalks celery, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

6 C GF bread cut into 1/2" cubes

3 C GF cornbread, crumbled

1 T dried sage

1 T poultry seasoning

4 C GF chicken broth

2 C mozzarella, shredded*

1/2 C butter*

Preheat oven to 375 F and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Cook the bacon over medium heat and remove to drain excess grease. Add the onion and celery to the pan with bacon drippings, cook until the onion softens and turns translucent. Add the garlic and cook another 3 minutes.

Crumble the bacon into the baking dish and add the onion and celery, bread, cornbread, sage, and poultry seasoning. Stir until evenly mixed. Add the mozzarella and chicken broth then stir until the broth is evenly absorbed. Dot the top with butter and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes then remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

I made this the night before and stuck it in the refrigerator before the baking step. It turned out really well and kept my to-do list a bit smaller the day of baking.

*For a dairy free option substitute Earth Balance and Daiya. It would probably be just as delicious without the cheese if you don't have any on hand.

Misc GF & MSG Info for Bozeman Area Restaurants

I've been hearing from people I know through work that read my blog (Hi!) and I had some information shared with me that I wanted to share with everyone else.

Casa Sanchez in Bozeman has corn tortillas that are safe for us GFer's but be sure you only have their green sauce. The red sauce has wheat in it and is NOT safe.

Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse in Manhattan used MSG on all of it's meats, from the steaks to the burgers. If you have reactions to MSG I would not recommend eating here (very big bummer in my opinion because I love the Oasis) without discussing the seasonings they use on the meat and whether you can get it without them. On a GF note I've never had a problem eating GF when I was there as long as you avoid the obvious gluten filled foods (like their delicious jo-jo's).

Anyone else have any tips to share?

Over the Tapas in Bozeman, Review

Hubby and I decided it was time for us to have a lunch date and went to Over the Tapas. I had e-mailed them to ask about their GF menu and they said they have the items that are GF marked on their dinner menu (you can see it online) and also have an * next to the items that can be made GF upon request. Our waitress was very nice and gave us the dinner menu to check for GF items against the lunch menu since it didn't have them marked. We decided on 4 dishes, two of which we shared. The Datiles con Tocino (bacon wrapped dates) were heaven on a plate if you ask me and next time I won't be sharing. We also shared the Patatas Arrugadas (sea salt crusted potatoes with mojo sauce). Both dishes were really good and we liked the red sauce best but I mostly mixed the two sauces together. I don't think I could eat a whole plate of the Patatas Arrugadas to myself so it's a good one to share.

Hubby had the Chicken Skewers (marinated chicken breast with roasted plantains) for his main dish and it was tasty. The chicken was very tender and the plantains were fun to try since neither for us had had them before.

I had the Esparragos Asado a la Parilla (grilled asparagus, local goat cheese, toasted Pine nuts, and dijon aioli) for my main dish. It was so yummy and the sauce was to die for.

I liked that we got to choose different small plates to try out the food and it filled us up but didn't over fill us, it was just perfect. We'll definately be eating here again and it's comforting to have another restaurant with knowledgeable staff regarding GF needs.

Shrimp with Garlic Parmesan Sauce

This is a recipe that I had in my head but couldn't find an exact recipe online. That's when you know it's time to just grab some ideas and mesh them together. I was really happy with this dish and it has a great flavor. The kids both loved it and Hubby said he liked it so it's going in the dinner rotation.

Shrimp with Garlic Parmesan Sauce

Adapted from Epicurean.com

8 cloves garlic chopped

12 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined if needed

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 C heavy cream

2 T parsely

1/2 C grated parmesan cheese

1 medium tomato, chopped

4-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

8 oz GF pasta, cooked and drained

salt & pepper to taste

Bring water in a medium saucepan to a boil and add the shrimp. Cook 2-3 minutes or until cooked or heated through if you're using pre-cooked shrimp. Drain and set to the side.

Cook the pasta according to the package while doing the next steps. Heat the oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook for about 1 minute then pour in the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Stir frequently until it thickens, it took about 8-10 minutes for me. Stir in the salt, pepper, parsley, and parmesan until combined. Add the shrimp and bacon and stir until combined.

To serve put pasta on a plate and top with the sauce. Garnish with tomoatoes.