Raspberry Cheese Pie

Hmmm .... how time flies!  The last year has been filled with a lot of changes - all good and all adding to my full days.  We bought some land in Northwest Oregon a couple of years ago that we are working at turning into a farm and this last year I've been spending more and more of my time living there and working.  Our first grandson was born in October!  He's a darling, calm baby - who happens to live on the East Coast, so I've been traveling, which I love to do.

Some of you found this blog while searching for help when newly diagnosed with large numbers of food allergies, histamine intolerance, or IBS.  The good news for me is that my gut seems to be completely healed and I am having very few problems with histamines.  I'm almost five years into my massive allergy diagnosis and cooking/eating is a lot, lot easier!  Also, I had my DNA run through 23 and Me and with the help of Genetic Genie found I have several methylation defects that predispose me to histamine problems, gut problems, and more but are easily treatable with non-synthetic vitamins.  I highly recommend Dr. Ben Lynch's website here if you're wondering if this might also help you.

What does all this mean for this blog?  I'm ready to post more regularly - spending so much time in the Northwest with all the wonderful, healthy choices for food, I find I have more to share and say.  As has been happening for awhile, not all recipes will be low histamine - they'll be marked if they're not.  However, we do still tend to eat fairly low histamine.  One of the benefits of my cooking low histamine was discovering histamines were causing my husband several problems.  The recipes will continue to be as free of my allergens as I know how to be.  Some allergies, such as corn, seem to be tricky - derivatives or levels of contamination that work for some, won't for others.  I tend to cook completely from scratch without derivatives, but occasionally they do sneak in, so use your best judgment on what will work for you!

This week in my corner of Oregon, the raspberries are ripening!  We have a small area of the canes - we're planning on adding more, but I wonder if there will ever be enough?  They're one of my favorite fruits and one that is so hard to find corn free in stores, between the soaker pads, packaging, and possible sprays for fresh and packaging, cross contamination, and citric acid with frozen.  So I gorge on them in July and ration out my jam and syrup the rest of the year!  I picked our first larger amount yesterday and made this delicious, easy pie - the only hard part is not eating the whole thing!

Raspberry Cheese Pie

Crust:
2 1/4 cups coarsely ground toasted almonds
2/3 cup palm shortening, melted
6T organic cane sugar

Mix all together and spread into a pie pan.  You can use as is or bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes for a harder crust.

Pie:
6 oz. goat chevre
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
1T lemon juice
1T homemade vanilla
2t gelatin
About 1 pint of raspberries

Add sugar and gelatin to food processor and give a couple of whirls to mix.  Heat coconut milk to warm and add, along with the cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Process until well mixed and pour into the crust.  Refrigerate for a few hours.  Before serving, spread the berries over the top.

Quinoa Biscotti

There's nothing better on a winter evening than biscotti and something hot to drink.  These are delicious!  And if you can eat it, would probably be great with half dipped in melted chocolate.

Quinoa Biscotti

1 3/4 cups quinoa flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup toasted almond slivers or pieces ( or 3/4 cup dried fruit pieces)
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup organic sugar
2T ground flax mixed with 6T water and cooked in microwave 1 min. or 2  eggs
1 T homemade vanilla

For quinoa flour, I grind sprouted, dried quinoa in a small blender (TriBest Personal Blender).  I usually use TruRoots sprouted quinoa.  If you don't have allergies you're trying to avoid cross contamination with, there are already ground quinoa flours you can buy.

Combine all ingredients and knead a few times until well mixed.  Divide dough into two pieces.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and press each section of dough into a 12 x 4 inch rectangle that is about 1 inch high.  Bake at 300 degrees for 25 - 28 minutes or until set in the center and a nice golden color.  Cool until still warm, but not too hot to handle.

Cut crosswise into pieces about 3/4 inch thick.  Turn slices so a cut edge is down and rebake (still at 300 degrees) for about 15 minutes until edges are golden.  Cool completely.

Plum Sorbet and Raw Cherry Sorbet

Summer and time for fruit sorbets!  In the photo, the cherry is the scoop on top and the plum is on the bottom - yeah, they look pretty much alike!!

Plum Sorbet

2 pounds plums - any type, in the photo I used Italian prune plums
1 cup organic sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon homemade vanilla

Pit plums, roughly chop, and put into a large saucepan.  Add sugar and lemon juice and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring.  Let mixture cool a little and then puree in a blender.  Add vanilla and refrigerate until cold.  Freeze in an ice-cream maker.


Raw Cherry Sorbet

4 cups pitted cherries
1/2 cup organic sugar
1T homemade vanilla

Puree everything in a blender and refrigerate until cold.  Freeze in an ice-cream maker.

Golden Beet (or Carrot) Cupcakes with Chevre Frosting

I've been missing carrot cake for some time - these are a great substitute!  And you can use carrots instead of the golden beets if you can eat them.  The cake part is very tender, so they work best cooked in cupcake liners.  I used If You Care paper baking cups.

Golden Beet Cupcakes
Makes about 14 - 18 (depending on whether you add nuts or raisins)

2/3 cup applesauce
2T flax and 6T water, microwaved for 1 minute (or 2 eggs - I haven't tested it with eggs so let me know how it works)
1/2 cup olive or coconut oil
1 1/2 cups organic sugar (or 3/4 cup each of white and brown sugar)
1T homemade vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
2  tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar + 1/2 tsp. baking soda or (2 tsp. baking powder)
3/4 tsp. ground ginger (if histamines aren't a problem you can use 2 tsp. cinnamon instead)
3 cups peeled and grated golden beets (or carrots)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Beat applesauce, flax mixture, and oil until smooth.  Add sugar and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to the wet mixture, beating until very smooth.  Mix in the beets (and optional nuts/raisins) by hand.  Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let sit until completely before frosting.

Chevre Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar - I use homeground from sugar crystals
8 oz. chevre (I use Laura Chenel) - may not be low histamine
1 cup Spectrum palm shortening
2T homemade vanilla extract

Beat all ingredients until thoroughly mixed and fluffy.  Spread on cupcakes or pipe on with a large cake decorating tip (I used a 2C).

Lemon Gelatin

The lemon tree is packed with ripe, juicy fruit and I'm on a lemon streak!  This is really good - not sicky sweet like the store brands.  Using the raw turbinado cane sugar gives it a nice color.

Lemon Gelatin
3/4 cup organic sugar
2 envelopes gelatin
1 2/3 cups cold water
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Mix the sugar with the gelatin in a sauce pan.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Add the lemon juice.  Pour into a bowl or mold and refrigerate until firm.

I also make gelatin from apple juice/cider:

Soften 1 package of gelatin in 1/4 cup water.  Add 1/2 cup boiling water and stir until dissolved.  Add 1 1/4 cup apple juice/cider and pour into a bowl or mold.  Refrigerate until firm.

You can also add spices or grated ginger with the juice.

Fresh Fig Cake

I love figs!  The California black figs are in season now and this cake is a good way to use them.

Fresh Fig Cake
2 cups chopped figs, stems removed
2 cups rice flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup coconut oil (or olive oil)
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup organic sugar
1/3 cup coconut milk (or water or other milk)

Add all ingredients to large bowl and stir to mix thoroughly.  Pour into a greased 8x8 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until cake begins to pull away from the sides.

Cool and spread on glaze.

Glaze - 3/4 cup powdered organic sugar, 1T homemade vanilla, 1T coconut oil (or olive oil).  Add enough water (just a bit) to get a pourable glaze. 

Almond Cookies

These are amazing, whether or not you have tons of allergies!  If you bake them for around 18 minutes, they turn out crunchy and if you cook them around 15 minutes (they'll still look too soft), they turn out chewy.  I follow the instructions on The Nourishing Cook for soaking and drying almonds before using them - it makes them easier to digest and makes the nutrients more available.  I also grind my own almond meal, flax, and powdered sugar using a Tri-Best Personal Blender with the grinding blades.

Almond Cookies
3 1/2 cups almond meal
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar (I grind my own from organic cane sugar)
2 T ground flax
1 tablespoon homemade vanilla
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda

1.  Mix the ground flax with 6 T water and microwave for about 1 minute.

2.  Mix together all dry ingredients.  Add the cooked flax and vanilla and mix thoroughly.  I finish it up by hand kneading the mixture to make sure it's all mixed.

3.  Roll dough into balls (about 1 1/2 inches diameter) and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Flatten with the palm of your hand or a glass.  Press an almond sliver into the center.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.  Let cool.

Lemon Cake

Our lemon tree is in full bloom, keeping the bees busy and the yard wonderfully scented!  This is one of my favorite cakes to make.Yum!  It's easy and keeps in the refrigerator (if it lasts that long) for several days.  I originally made it with water instead of coconut milk and olive oil instead of coconut oil - it still tastes great that way, but the coconut milk and oil step it up a notch.

Lemon Cake

1 ¼ cups white rice flour
1 cup organic sugar
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
scant 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg or flax egg substitute
¼ cup coconut oil (or olive oil)
2T lemon juice + coconut milk (or water) to equal ¾ cup (you can add more lemon juice if you want it really lemony - just keep the total at  ¾ cup)

Mix and pour into greased 8 or 9 inch baking pan.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Pour glaze on cake immediately and keep spreading it around until it all soaks in.

Glaze – ¾ cup powdered sugar (C&H has corn starch in it, others have tapioca – if you want only sugar, grind granulated sugar in blender)
1T coconut oil (or olive oil)
lemon juice to make a thin glaze

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

When this comes right out of the ice cream maker, it tastes a lot like I remember Dairy Queen soft serve tasting when I was growing up!  This is a good, basic vanilla ice cream flavor.  My taste testers either couldn't tell it'd been made from coconut milk or thought they could detect a slight pleasant coconut taste.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

3 cans Trader Joe's Lite Coconut Milk (only ingredients are coconut milk and water)
2/3 cup organic sugar
1 Tablespoon homemade vanilla

Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add the sugar.  Bring to a simmer and keep simmering, stirring occasionally, for 1/2 hour.  Cool to room temp and then add the vanilla.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Process in ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Variations:
Use organic dark brown sugar for a caramel flavor.

For peppermint, add 1 cup dried peppermint leaves to coconut milk and sugar.  Simmer  1/2 hour, strain out leaves, cool, add vanilla.

For ginger, add 2 T thinly sliced ginger to the coconut milk and sugar.  Simmer 1/2 hour, remove the ginger pieces, cool and add vanilla.  For a spicier ginger flavor, use 1 T grated ginger and leave it in.

Sunflower Butter Cookies

I was about to try grinding my own sunflower seed butter when I found Sunbutter's Organic variety.  It's only sunflower seeds and is made in a peanut and tree nut free facility.  I generally don't buy anything premade because of the risk of cross-contamination, but this looked worth a shot!  It's really good - reminiscent of peanut butter, but different too.  And I seem to be fine with it.

It's taken several tries to get a decent cookie, but these aren't bad! In fact, I'm going to have to limit how often I bake them if I want to keep fitting in my clothes.

If you decide to try your own recipes with sunflower seed butter, this is what I found on the Sunbutter site:

When baking with SunButter® you must cut back the amount of baking soda / powder into about half of what the recipe asks for. This is done to avoid any discoloration that will occur from the reaction between the chlorophyll present in sunflower seeds and the baking soda / powder. This reaction does not make the recipe harmful to consume but may not be visually appealing. This reaction may also be counteracted by adding a small amount of lemon juice to the recipe.

Apparently it turns whatever you're baking a dark greenish color.  Hmmm.  I decided to just leave the baking soda out - my old recipe didn't call for that much anyway.

Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies - makes about 3 dozen

1 1/4 cups rice flour
1 cup sunflower seed butter
1/2 cup Spectrum palm shortening
1/2 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup packed organic brown sugar
2 batches flax egg substitue
1 tsp. home made vanilla

Cream sunflower seed butter, shortening, and the sugars.  Add flax mixture and vanilla.  Add in the flour.  Roll into approximately 1 inch balls and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten with a fork, making a criss cross pattern.  Sprinkle with white sugar and a pinch of sea salt crystals.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.  Leave on the pan for a few minutes before removing them to paper towels to cool.

Mango Sorbet

One of the best kitchen appliances I ever bought was our ice cream maker!  It's a Cuisinart I got through Amazon and we use it so much I had to order a second freezing tub.  The freezing tub takes more time than they say to get cold enough to make good ice cream - I count on letting it sit in the freezer for two days before I even try.

I buy my frozen mangoes at Trader Joe's.  If you don't have one around, you could use fresh or any frozen that is only mango.  Some brands use citric acid as a wash when freezing - usually made from corn these days, not citrus.  Go figure!

Mango Sorbet

1 1/2 pound bag frozen mango pieces
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

1.  Dissolve sugar in water in a medium sized sauce pan.  Add the mango, cover, and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat so the mango is simmering and cook for about 5 minutes.  Let cool.

2.  Puree with the lemon juice in a blender.  Put in the refrigerator until really cold - at least half a day.

3.  Process according to your ice cream maker's instructions.  Put in the freezer for a few hours to harden a bit more.

Fruit Cobblers

A couple years ago we planted a bunch of fruit trees that are supposed to do well in the Sonoran Desert - Ana and Dorset Golden apples, Methley Plums, Black Mission figs, Mid-Pride and Tropic Snow peaches, Garden Prince Almonds, Hood Pears, and Li Jujubes.  This year we had bumper crops of plums and peaches and I just finished harvesting the last of a huge apple crop.

I haven't come up with a good pie crust yet that uses only rice flour and no xanthan gum, but I did put together a really good fruit cobbler recipe.  We've tried it with the peaches (that's when I added peaches to my allergy list) and apples - I can see it working really well with plums, cherries, and berries also.

Fruit Cobbler

About 4 cups of fruit
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon rice flour

1 cup rice flour
2 tsp. organic sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup Spectrum palm shortening
1 T lemon juice + water to equal 1/2 cup
1 Tablespoon homemade vanilla
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons organic sugar

Mix the fruit with the 1/2 cup sugar and 1 T rice flour.  Put into an oiled 8 or 9 inch square baking dish.

Mix the flour, sugar, cream of tartar, and baking soda together.  Cut in the shortening.  Add the lemon water and vanilla and mix.  Spoon over the top of the fruit (or drop in clumps with your fingers).  Drizzle the top with olive oil and then sprinkle on the additional sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes, until nicely browned.  I accidentally took mine out too soon - it should be browner than this!  I'll replace the photo next time I make one.