Loaded Potato Scrolls

I asked my fellas what we should fix for POTATO & CHIVES month. I got one request for Irish Stir-fry, and one down on his knees begging that we make Irish Nachos again. ("MOM! Aren't chives just skinny green onions?!") When I tried explaining chives are what's in the dip for Claim Jumper's Loaded Skins®, I then had a request for loaded skins. THAT was when I decided to bake bread -- loaded bread.  So, the Loaded Potato Scroll* was born.

We started with some baked, then mashed Butter Golds. How I managed to save a cup from being devoured by the crew, I have no idea.  But I did have to hide it in the fridge until I was ready to try the recipe!

The chives proved to be the tougher part of this assignment -- I'd planted some in hopes I could have a little harvest in time for the recipe, but our little 90° heatwave proved my undoing. I had to resort to a grocery package... :( 

But the filling... oh the filling!!!!! You can never have too much bacon! This is what we used:

The dough is pretty easy, and so is spreading the filling. If you've used GF flour, the making of the roll & slicing can be a little awkward...

Also, GF flour idiosyncrasies make the rising a little ambiguous.

Since flours brown differently when baked, I decided to use a thermometer to determine when the scrolls were finished.

Because it was such a lovely spring afternoon (in the shade!) we decided to make a little picnic & eat our loaded scrolls (in the shade!)

They were delicious! (...if you can close your eyes & imagine the bread part as tasty, light, fluffy gluten-filled dough!)

I think the filling could take some more bacon, though...

Here's the recipe:

(This recipe is gluten & processed sugar free. It will work using wheat flour, but please adapt the rising & baking times as appropriate.)


*Read why the fellas refer to these as "scrolls" here.

If you're interested in joining our monthly #ImprovCookingChallenge you can find that info here. In the meantime, enjoy these recipes by some of our members:

An InLinkz Link-up

Yiaourti Me Meli ~ filled Profiteroles (gf)

Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to make croquembouche for this month’s Improv Cooking Challenge. bahahaha! Not really – I stacked up some cinnamon cream puffs filled with Greek yogurt and drizzled honey all over them. (then attempted to photograph them before the cat tried to topple my tower…)
For a couple years now the hubster likes a bowl of Greek yogurt, cinnamon, honey & frozen mixed berries before turning in for the night. Little did he know that he was “knocking-off” that famous Greek dessert called “Yiaourti Me Meli” – yogurt and honey (well, minus the walnuts and plus the berries…)
I decided to dress it up a little in a cinnamon profiterole and top it with a bit more honey.
This was my first attempt at pâte à choux using Bob’s Red Mill® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. I will definitely be making more gf puffs in the future!
I started by making the yogurt so the flavors could blend together. I used 2 cups of Greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/3 cup local honey & 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
With that resting in the fridge, I went to work on the profiteroles.

Cinnamon Pâte à Choux

1 cup water
½ c. butter (if using unsalted, add a pinch of kosher salt)
½ t. cinnamon
1 c. Bob’s Red Mill® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour 4 large eggs

• (It’s easier to assemble ingredients before starting, because the process goes fast!) Break the eggs into a spouted measuring cup. Preheat oven to 425°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Combine the water, butter and cinnamon in a saucepan, bring to a rolling boil.
• Remove the pan from the heat, and add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously.
• Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat for a couple minutes until it’s cooled to below 125°F.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium speed; scrape the bowl after each addition.
• After the last egg, beat the dough a couple minutes until it holds a peak.
• Scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop. (Allow space for the puffs to expand.)
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°. Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until the dough has risen and the pastries are a medium golden brown. (They should sound hollow if you tap them…) Remove the pastries from the oven, make a small slit in the top of each, and return them to the oven for another 5 minutes, to allow the steam to escape.
• Transfer the puffs to a rack to cool.
• When they are cool enough to handle, split each one in half to air out the centers, which will help keep the pastries from becoming soggy.
• Fill the bottom half of the profiterole with the yogurt mixture then replace the top. Dip  in honey and form stack on a serving plate. Drizzle with more honey.
• Serve immediately; refrigerate any leftovers.

Yield: 2 dozen puffs

They were quite tasty! To see recipes for more tasty cinnamon & honey dishes, click on the links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

GF Red Velvet Cheesecake

Well, today is my final post for #Choctoberfest2016 … BTW – Did you enter the Rafflecopter drawing for the prize pack worth $350? (The drawing was extended to October 22nd because of weather/transportation/shipping issues related to Hurricane Matthew…)

I’m pretty sure I saved the best for last!

This cheesecake…

OH!MY!

Let’s start with the crust:

stir together

• 2 c. almond meal
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 3 T. melted butter
• 2 T. honey

Prepare the bottom (parchment or butter) of 9” springform. Combine ingredients until crumbly. Press firmly into pan.For the cheesecake:

in the mixer

• 24 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1¹/₂ c. sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. Greek yogurt
• ¹/₂ c. buttermilk
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 T. baking cocoa mixed with 2 oz. red food coloring
• 1 t. white vinegar with ¹/₄ t. baking soda

Cream the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in the remaining ingredients just until everything is well-combined. Scrape batter onto prepared crust. Bake in pre-heated 350° oven for ten minutes, then reduce temperature to 300°. Bake for 75 minutes, or until firm in the center. Turn oven off, but let the cheesecake stand in there for 30 minutes. Remove to rack & let cool completely. Cover & chill in refrigerator while making the Ermine Icing.

You absolutely can not top a cheesecake with cream cheese frosting! And you should never, really, top a red velvet anything with something other than the traditional boiled milk icing. (The gentle cocoa flavor just gets too overwhelmed…) Trust me on this. {end rant }

for the icing:

• 3 T. gf flour (I used this)
• 2 T. arrowroot starch
• 1 c. whole milk
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 c. butter, room temperature
• 1 c. granulated sugar

In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk the flour & starch into the milk. Heat until it simmers, stirring constantly until it becomes thick like pudding. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. Pour into a bowl & cover surface with plastic wrap and cool completely.

In the mixer, cream the butter and sugar until it’s light & fluffy. Beat for five minutes.

While the mixer is running (medium speed) add the cooled milk mixture about a quarter cup at a time. Beat until mixture is light & fluffy and resembles whipped cream. Top cheesecake and refrigerate.

The next time I attempt this cheesecake (and, there will be a next time!) I will probably add more cocoa. The chocolate flavor disappeared behind the cream cheese… But I had no complaints from the taste-testers.

Check out the #Choctoberfest links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Mediterranean Chicken Ravioli

Chicken & noodles is the Improv Cooking Challenge theme that our hostess Lesa assigned for March. You know me -- never met a pasta I didn’t like. Well, until my gluten-free era, that is…I haven’t made pasta since this challenge over a year ago; so I figured it was time to try again. I made a few adjustments to my recipe to use Cup 4 Cup flour.

Lemon Basil Pasta

• 280 g. all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 37 g. garbanzo bean flour
• 1 T. xanthan gum
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 2 eggs + 1 yolk
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. chopped fresh basil
• 1 t. finely grated lemon zest
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 c. cold water (or enough for dough consistency)

Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add remaining items and mix until dough forms a ball. Turn out from bowl & knead a few turns. Wrap in plastic to rest.

While I was making the pasta dough, I had my boneless/skinless chicken thighs marinating in drained juices from the filling ingredients. (For the marinade I simply added a little white wine and lemon juice to the liquids from the capers, olives & artichoke hearts.)

As the dough was resting, I grilled the thighs & then chopped them and added them to the other filling items. (Half the amount of this recipe filled the ravioli; the remaining we used as a chopped salad in pita pockets…)

Mediterranean Chicken

• 2 T. capers, drained
• 6 oz. kalamata olives, drained & chopped
• 6 oz. artichoke hearts marinated in oil, drained & chopped
• 1/3 c. onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 oz. fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled
• 4 cups grilled chicken, chopped

You could add some fresh-cracked black pepper to this mixture, but I liked the way it tasted (and tasted, and tasted, and tasted, and tasted, and tasted, and…) without additional seasoning.

Now it was time to drag out the pasta maker. (I rolled the sheets pretty short to cut four rounds at a time, otherwise the pasta tended to dry out a little.)I think this dough handled much better than the recipe I used before.Again I used my trusty old 4” Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal^® to manufacture the raviolis. I covered them with plastic wrap and let them rest on a platter while I made the Alfredo sauce requested by my men.

Greek Yogurt Alfredo Sauce

• 1 T. olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 c. Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 T. arrowroot starch
• 8 oz. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Lightly heat the garlic and olive oil in a sauce pan. Stir in the yogurt. Mix the starch (could sub tapioca or corn starch) into the milk, then add that & the chicken broth to the heating mixture. When that begins to bubble & thicken, whisk in the cheese little by little until the sauce is smooth & of proper consistency.

Boil the ravioli until pasta is done (ours was about 10 minutes) Drain & serve with the delish Alfredo sauce.Yum!

 

…and here are some recipes created by my friends:

An InLinkz Link-up