Showing posts with label cornmeal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cornmeal. Show all posts

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Gluten-Free Corn Muffins - A Santa Fe Twist

Gluten-Free Corn Muffins - A Spicy New Recipe
Our newest gluten-free corn muffin recipe- with a hint of chile.

Steve whipped up these chile studded golden morsels of corny goodness this week to have on hand for the Crock Pot stew and soup we planned to make. These would also be perfection with this chili.

Come Together


My heart is often tugged in multiple directions. Yanked this way, and pulled that way. Like one long, drunken walk of contradiction. Opposing strategies, assumptions, and intentions collide and churn and grip my emotional little pump like a fist- far more often than I care to admit. For all kinds of reasons. If I was a believer in astrology I would now confess my Gemini imprint. Which allegedly explains my dual nature and divergent tendencies. I have always pursued two paths at once, and wrangled opposites like the celestial twins I supposedly embody. But the only current subscription card I carry is not to the stars above in any connect-the-dot sense, but to the Big Kahuna. The Mother of All. That's right.

Love.

And that's why the media we are inundated with- hour after hour- is so tough, Babycakes. So much snark and cynicism. Lies disguised as information. Opinions disguised as news. So much shrill and snide. And divisiveness. So much finger pointing. And blame. So much collective denial. So much hurt and incredulity for anyone who has a heart. Or tenders a tendency to listen rather than rail. To read rather than twerk.

I am tired of our culture of death and war. I am weary of our appetite for power and violence. I am numb from the ugliness of greed that poses as success. As a woman of a certain age I recoil from the soul-killing projection of plasticized beauty, anti-aging, and the (boring!) focus on the superficial.

I tell you this because I must. I have no choice. I gotta talk about it. If you visit for the recipes only, or stop by for encouragement and celiac support, you may be raising an eyebrow right about now. You might prefer fun and perky chit chat. Not all this complicated feeling stuff. 

Recipes, inspiration- Darling, it's all here for you. My family and I knit our love of good food and gluten-free support for you. We have for eight years. And will continue to do so. 

But you should know- goddess status aside- I struggle with this stuff every day.

Just like you.

I know you do, too, because you are here right now. Reading these words.

You care.

You love.

You worry.

You are tired of the half-truths, the superficial, the weak reasoning, the shrugging dull acceptance that this is the way it has to be. Because you know- like I do- it doesn't.

Love can win.

Light can penetrate the darkest hour. Denial can be pinched and slapped and prodded awake. Common sense values, maturity, and compassion can be sexy. Golden Rule ethics are hawt. The still small voice within can be excavated. And heard. And sung.

I am turning to the new year ahead with hope for a better one. Where not one single child is riddled with bullets (is this really too much to hope for?). Where our political process is governed by doing the right thing (of the people, by the people, for the people) and not by money and its corporate culture of greed. Where guns are not sexy. And our appetites are hungry for knowledge, art, culture, beauty, and truth.

I know, I know. My Age of Aquarius hippie artist inclusive proclivities are showing.

And if I could?

I would invite you all over for cocoa and muffins. I would make you a big bowl of mulligatawny and hand you my favorite spoon, and play some Yo Yo Ma and James Taylor on the HiFi. We could watch the deer outside the kitchen window as snowflakes spin their magic just before dark. The recipe I would make would be this new corn muffin recipe spiked with spicy green chiles and golden pumpkin.

A match made in heaven.

Or hatched by a Gemini goddess wrestling with light and dark (and rainbows!).

You decide.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Friday, 23 March 2012

Gluten-Free Vanilla Cornbread Recipe


Gluten free vanilla cornbread recipe
A wedge of vanilla cornbread. Gluten-free yum.

Playing Dress Up.


This is not your average weeknight cornbread. You know, the one you toss together from a gluten-free mix to serve with a bowl of white chicken chili as you catch up with Mad Men season four. Nope. This tender cake-like cornbread is a pinch more elegant. A gently sweet treat you might serve at high tea with a gaggle of girlfriends (or low tea, depending upon the company you keep). Picture fresh cut flowers on the table, stemmed glasses filled with dewy fresh berries, a pot of Earl Grey tea or organic chamomile buds steeping beneath a cozy.

This is the sort of cornbread that begs to be served with style. That longs to be gussied up. The kind of cornbread you eat with a fork.

A cornbread that secretly dreams of being cake.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Gluten-Free Banana Corn Muffins Recipe

Tender and sweet corn muffins infused with the scent of banana


Gypsy Souls


Apartment hunting is more than a little fun, right? It's big fun. You get to tour unfamiliar lobbies and prowl rooms old and new. You get to peek into kitchen cupboards and step onto balconies, turning your face toward the sun to imagine greeting the day in that one particular spot on Earth (mug of fresh brewed coffee and a crisp LA Times in hand).

You wade eagerly into conversations about whether you'd prefer looking out at a roof top or a wall or a neighbor's patio ringed with bamboo. Hunting is fun. But finding the right apartment is not as simple as you might think.

While you think it would be beyond groovy to live opposite the Santa Monica Library with a ficus canopy crowning your street level view, your Honey Baby Sugarness states said library proximity holds absolutely no charm for him and he urges you to reconsider your enthusiasm, siting 1. street level noise and 2. the stop-and-go energy (and air-brakes) at the bus stop.


He favors a bright and airy but characterless spot on 6th Street opening to a quiet common courtyard. But you can't get past 1. the spongy beige wall-to-wall and 2. the cross-alley neighbor's clear view of your living room (hence, My Lovely, your sure-to-happen morning-brained half naked sprint to fetch the ringing cell phone forgotten in your purse the night before--- not a pretty sight).

So you brew a cup of coffee, open a bag of potato chips and hash out priorities- what is mutually essential and what might not be. What you can live with and what you cannot. And vice versa. This is a marriage, after all. Two gypsy souls.

You make lists (yes, I make lists). I'm visual. I need visual aids. Diagrams are good. Multiple colors (I'm a Sharpie lover). Arrows for emphasis. Stars. Circles. Big decisions require maps. Direction. Emphasis.



Le smack down-

Meh wall-to-wall carpet vs street noise
New kitchen! vs Ahhh, soaking tub!
Sky roof view vs neighbor dancing in his underwear (or vice versa- see above)
Walking to beach vs walking to library
Privacy vs proximity
Location, location, location (is that like, Practice, practice, practice?)


You hone and define your hopes and needs on a lined piece of yellow paper. You sip more wine. You tinker. Smile. Find agreement.


Hardwood floors win. Roof top view and new kitchen- win. Big windows- no brainer. Proximity to beach- double no-brainer.

Progress.

And here's a muffin to go with it.


Gluten-free banana corn muffins
Tender corn muffin goodness scented with banana.

Banana Corn Muffin Recipe

I love using mashed banana  in vegan baking. The mashed sweet fruit gives egg-free muffins a pull-apart tenderness. Not to mention- the combo of cornmeal and banana? Delicious.

Ingredients:

Whisk in a mixing bowl:

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornmeal
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch or tapioca starch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup packed organic light brown sugar
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
Pinch of nutmeg

Make a well in the center and add in:

1/2 cup light olive oil
1 cup banana puree
1/3 cup coconut milk or other non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 1/4 cup warm water
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or light tasting vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or organic raw agave nectar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line twelve muffin cups with paper liners.

Beat to combine. The batter should be smooth and medium thick. If it feels too stiff add a spoonful of coconut milk to thin. If, by chance, the batter is very thin, add a sprinkle of potato starch to thicken it.

Spoon the batter into the twelve muffin cups. Use wet fingers to smooth tops, if necessary. Bake in the center of a preheated oven till domed and firm to the touch. This might be anywhere from 18 to 25 minutes (a wooden pick inserted into the center should emerge clean) depending upon your oven, and humidity.

Cool the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes; then turn out the muffins to continue cooling on the rack (this prevents the bottoms from steaming).

Serve warm. Wrap extra muffins individually in foil; bag and freeze for best taste. These beauties make an easy, not-too-sweet on-the-go treat.

Makes twelve muffins.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you.



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Karina's Notes:

  • For those of you who cannot bake with cornmeal, I'm wondering if a combo flour mix of almond meal and buckwheat wouldn't be to die for?
  • For those of you using eggs, use two free-range organic eggs, beaten.
  • Gluten-free vegan batter really is different from traditional wheat flour based batter. It's not just a rumor. Gluten-free egg-free muffins won't puff and rise as much as their wheat based cousins. So fill your muffin cups a bit higher than you used to.
  • This is a gum-free recipe, but if you prefer, add a teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum. The honey or agave helps add stickiness.


Also Try:


More gluten-free corn muffins from food bloggers:

The Gluten-Free Homemaker's Ham and Cheese Corn Muffins


xox Karina

Wednesday, 29 July 2009

Gluten-Free Blueberry Corn Muffins

Gluten free blueberry corn muffins by Karina
Summery, fresh blueberry corn muffins- gluten-free.

Blueberries and corny goodness ...


August is fast approaching. I am trying not to think about it. I am baking blueberry corn muffins. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt. Or so I'm told. I am constructing my best defense to put off thinking about hauling our ocean-loving selves back to the dusty stoic hills of Ojo Caliente- 913 miles away from my sons, 915 miles from the sea.

Anyone out there want to buy a charming casita with mesa sunset views? Two kiva fireplaces. Saltillo tile floors. Vigas. All the rustic Southwest vibe you could ask for. Price reduced (thrice). To less than what we paid for it.

I don't pretend to understand the bigger picture, the honking beast of our lumbering economy. I'm no good at math- even when the economy is not melting down, humming along to its own sweet tune, nevermind comprehending the intricate ins and outs and ups and downs of depression economics and the breathtaking depths of Wall Street greed and extra sensitive interest rates that pout and pose and tease like strippers sending brokers into sweating Xanax popping frenzy. Not to mention, I cannot wrap my poetic visual brain around those epic taxpayer funded Wall Street buy-outs.

I'm an artist. I have always lived by the seat of my pants, without health insurance, without an IRA. I don't live by a plan. I live by intuition. Inspiration. I play with paint (not a skill valued by many people in our big screen spectacle loving culture). So I probably shouldn't have become a home owner. It was probably my fault. I should have known better. I've learned my lesson. I'm letting go. I'm saying no to mortgages. For now.

And I'm baking muffins.

I'm trying to practice my best Zen-Lebowski detachment (the waves help). And yeah. We still have three weeks. Miracles happen.

As always?

I'm hoping for the best.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Monday, 22 June 2009

Gluten-Free Strawberry Cobbler Cake



Dear Gluten-Free Goddess,

Not another strawberry recipe. Please. And a cake recipe at that? Pfffft. I've had it with all your so called strawberry deliciousness. Will you just get over it already? (What do you think this is, strawberry season?) I'm totally bored with the whole strawberry thing. Good Gracious Lord In Heaven.
Where the bleep are the broccolini recipes? The watercress and sardine tarts? The marinated scapes, head cheese, and tripe? Where's your squid ink linguini recipe? And croissants! I can't find them anywhere.
And must I beg you for boutique bean recipes? You of all people- living in your precious New Mexico desert. Or have you moved to Hollyweird now (that figures). I need boutique heirloom bean recipes. I need my daily local vegan fiber, if you get my drift.

Hmm? None of the above? 
Figures.
But I forgive you, I guess. You're only human. You're not an actual living breathing goddess as I'm all too sure you're aware. Right?
So I say this with love--- and I'm your biggest fan, by the way. I've even won a recipe contest or two using your recipes. How cool is THAT?

I have a question for you--- since you are such a know-it-all maven.

Hope you don't mind helping me out here. I know you're probably super busy and all, but. I guess I feel I'm entitled. Because I'm such a fan. Here goes.
Why does gluten-free vegan baking suck rocks?
I mean, just in a general kind of way. It really, truly sucks!  I'm not exaggerating or indulging in hyperboloid or whatever you call it.

I'm having some trouble lately. I followed your directions. Well, mostly. I did change a few ingredients. Because you use WAY TOO much sugar and fat.  So I took out the sugar. And most of the fat. I used prune puree and mashed black beans. And I switched the starch to teff flour to increase the protein ratio. I threw in boiled flax gel. But still.

It turned out well, just icky.

Maybe it's the whole weird flour thing. The kids (spoiled brats) won't eat that quinoa stuff. And my husband can't stand the smell of buckwheat flour. And don't even mention tapioca. Not in this house.

And while we're at it? Some friendly advice.

Can you just skip the unbearable intros? You're so self-satisfied. Could you be any more full of yourself? And keep your political insinuations to yourself too, wouldja please? Not everyone is a bleeding heart rainbow diversity blah blah tree hugger believing in HOPE and peace and equal rights and affordable health care like you.

Some of us actually uphold the family unit as God intended. We honor the sacrament of marriage. Well, the 45% of us who don't end up in divorce court do, anyway. After all, this is a FOOD BLOG. Isn't the RECIPE the point? A sincere piece of advice--- just post the recipe. Nix the philosophical stuff. I don't really get it anyway, what you write. And I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Your writing is a little weird and I'm almost certain it's subversive in some sorta artsy feminist manifesto way.

Oh, and one last request. Aside from the whole vegan batter looking like snot thing. What the hell is xanthan gum, anyway? And which store in my town carries it?

Looking forward to hearing from you ASAP!

Buggy Nudnik
PS: By the way, I decided last night to start my own gluten-free vegan baking business. My goal is either to start up a bakery or be a personal gluten-free vegan chef. I figure I'm getting to be such an expert on this gluten-free baking thing, I might as well get PAID for it. So thanks for all your recipes. I'll be using them. Thought you be honored.
READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Tuesday, 6 January 2009

Yeasted Cornbread

Tender gluten-free yeasted cornbread baked in a skillet.


The pairing of a tender, grainy bread (freshly baked, still warm) with a bowl of soul-fortifying soup or stew is a favorite combo for winter comfort around here. Steve and I are big fans. We slow-cook a lot of soup. And we bake a different cornbread every week. So today I'm posting such a pairing. Two recipes- a new yeasted cornbread I am crazy about, and a New Mexican Stew that will chase away the January back-to-reality blues and blahs and whatever else may ail you, Dear Reader.

When all else fails, a simple earthy meal of hot soup and rustic bread can soothe the crankiest of beasts. Especially when that beast happens to be my mood, infused with cabin fever.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Corn Muffins


Pumpkin Corn Muffin Recipe
Gluten-free corn muffins with a pumpkin twist.


Pumpkin + Cornmeal


Today's muffin recipe is seasonal favorite- a tender and golden pumpkin corn muffin. It's one of the most popular recipes on Gluten-Free Goddess.

The coyotes were up bright and early this morning, yelping in the cool blue air as my old English tea kettle sputtered and complained. Tea for breakfast is not an efficient way to wake up. It's more of a coaxing than the throttle of a double espresso fueled Americano, but right here, right now, it will have to do. At least this week.

The closest cafe is an hour's drive away. 

When people ask what it is I miss most living out here in the wide, rural desert, my answer varies.

But the contender list is growing...

Maple trees
Songbirds
Ocean surf
Sea air
Green leaves
Wet bark
Woodsy paths
Thickets
Cafes
Bookstores
Espresso
Vintage finds
Beachcombing
Lilacs

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Wednesday, 20 August 2008

Gluten-Free Pear Polenta Muffins

Gluten-free pear polenta muffins
Tender and sweet pear polenta muffins.


Ripe juicy pears and a polenta flour base make this new muffin recipe an instant favorite. I'll mention right off the bat- it's not low carb. It uses a moderate amount of sugar and some rice flour with organic corn meal. But if you're pining for a gluten-free vegan muffin recipe that you will absolutely love and devour with relish and lick your fingers and say softly (in your best Lauren Bacall voice), You know those pear muffins you got over there, Steve? You wanna toss me another?

These are it.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

Gluten-Free Pueblo Bread Recipe with Green Chiles

Gluten-Free Pueblo Bread with Green Chiles
 Rustic gluten-free bread- easy and delicious.

This is the easiest yeasted bread you'll ever make. Well, from a scratch recipe, I mean. You'll have to whisk together some gluten-free flours and proof a little yeast in warm (not too hot!) water, but you can handle that, right? Once it's stirred together, you smooth it into a cake pan, let it rise in a warm and cozy oven, then bake it. If you want an easier bread making experience than this, Darling, buy any gluten-free mix, dump it into a bread machine and press Start.

I'm calling it Pueblo Bread because a certain savvy friend of mine (you know the one- my pal Joey, who makes the best damn guacamole recipe this side of the Mississippi) who knows from Nuevo Native American cuisine, called it (and my quote could be slightly inaccurate, Gentle Reader, due to consuming literal fistfuls of organic hand-popped popcorn to quell the mind-numbing boredom of enduring two and half hours of There Will Be Blood), Tasty and authentic, and not unlike the local Pueblo style breads.

As for the movie choice? My bad. Maybe the sheer Shakespearean brilliance of Deadwood has spoiled me forever when it comes to period westerns (it's possible).

Next time I'm picking something with Frances McDormand.

The men will just have to deal.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Thursday, 15 March 2007

Gluten-Free Gypsy Soda Bread

Gluten free soda bread recipe
Gluten-free soda bread, gypsy style.

By the time I attended art school and launched into life on my own I had moved ten times and attended nine different schools in four different states. Not all that unusual, I imagine, for many Americans. And for those of us with nomadic ancestry it simply feels natural to do so, to gather up and move in sync with the wheel of the seasons, aligned with winged migrations and turning stars.

I have always kept a gypsy heart, even when it wasn't easy. Even when I let her out only in my deepest dreams, inside a brushstroke, or as I stirred a makeshift dough with one of my young sons, improvising ingredients on a budget so small every dollar bill mattered.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...