gluten-free noodles, pumpkin & squash pie, and dressing

Yesterday my mom and I had a cooking extravaganza for our family's Thanksgiving dinner. My uncle & I are both gluten intolerant, so I had the pleasure of tending to our dishes and watching for opportunities for cross-contamination in the shared kitchen. Everything I had any interest in devouring was Jessi-friendly -- free of gluten, onion, ginger, and mushrooms!

In preparation, I had picked up a few necessities at Jungle Jim's International Market and excitedly picked up a gluten-free pumpkin pie. I didn't realize until I was on the 2 hour journey to my parents' that the pie was gluten-free but not ginger-free. These pies definitely more than made up for that disappointment.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin & Butternut Squash Pies

Crust (yields 1 9-inch crust)
1 1/4 c. King Arthur Flour gluten-free multi-purpose flour
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
6 T cold butter
1 duck egg (or large egg)
2 tsp lemon juice (or vinegar)

Pie Filling (yields plenty of filling for 2 pies)
1 small pumpkin (if using canned pumpkin, add 1 c. milk)
1 small butternut squash (this gives a richer orange color without noticeably impacting the pumpkin taste)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
5 duck eggs (or 6 chicken eggs)
2 cans (1 1/3 c.) evaporated milk


Gluten Free Pie Crust (adapted from King Arthur's website)

1. Grease pie plate.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, xanthan gum, and salt.
3. Cut butter into pats, then work into the mixture until it's crumbly with some larger, pea-sized chunks remaining.
4. Whisk the egg and lemon juice until very foamy. Mix into the dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture holds together, adding 1-3 additional teaspoons cold water if necessary.
5. Shape into a ball and chill for one hour (up to overnight).
6. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling.
7. Roll out onto a piece of plastic wrap (or a silicone rolling mat or pie bag) that has been heavily sprinkled with flour. Invert the crust into the pie plate.
8. Fill and bake per your recipe. It is a crumbly but yummy crust.
9. To pre-bake without filling, preheat the oven to 375. Add pie weights and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the weights and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Ginger-Free Pie Filing:

1. Halve the pumpkin and squash, remove seeds, and place in a baking pan in the oven face-down in 1 inch of water. Cook for 1 hour at 400 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, squash, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
3. Add eggs and lightly beat into the pumpkin mixture using a fork.
4. Add the evaporated milk (and milk if not using fresh pumpkin). Mix well.
5. Place two pastry-lined 9-inch pie plates on oven rack and pour in the pumpkin mixture.
6. Shield the edges of the pie with foil, because the egg/lemon juice mix makes the pie vulnerable to burned edges.
7. Bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted off-center comes out clean. Cool.
8. Cover and chill to serve.

Gluten-Free Noodles

This family recipe from my great grandmother, Lily Rodgers Householder,has been adapted to be gluten-free.

1 1/2 c. King Arthur Flour gluten-free multi-purpose flour (Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Baking Flour will also work, but I've found that King Arthur works better, and both are preferable to soy flour. If making your own flour, a blend is best.)
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 T olive oil (approximately)
3 duck eggs, lightly beaten
6 c. chicken broth (approximately)
Desired seasonings

1. Pour the flour in a medium-sized bowl, creating a well in the center.
2. Add salt to the well. Put the eggs in the well. Stir with a fork until, ideally, it becomes thick to stir. Don't become discouraged if it looks too crumbly to stick together. The initial recipe called for fewer eggs. I added an egg and a touch more olive oil when this happened:
   
3. Knead and form a ball. Allow the dough to rest in a warm place. My warm place: atop the coffee pot.
   
4. Roll out thin (1/8 inch thick) on a cutting board that has been generously sprinkled with flour. Cut into long noodles using a pizza wheel or knife.
   
5. Thoroughly cover the noodles with flour and allow them to rest on a baking sheet to dry somewhat.
   
6. Bring the broth to a boil and season to taste. We rendered broth from one of our own rainbow ranger chickens, but gluten-free broth from the store is perfectly fine as well. I seasoned with poultry seasoning, some salt, and fresh sage then strained into a separate pan.
7. Slowly stir in the noodles and the extra flour sprinklings. This will thicken the broth.
8. Cook 20 minutes or until the noodles are pliable, stirring frequently. These noodles love to stick to the bottom of the pan.
9. Move to your desired serving dish and ENJOY!

Gluten-Free Stuffing

8 slices Udi's Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread (or your preferred bread)
4 T butter
1 stalk celery, sliced
Poultry seasoning
Sage
Salt
3 c. broth

1. Toast and break up the bread. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter and add sliced celery.
3. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, and salt to taste.
4. Pour onto the bread and stir.
5. Add broth and continue to season, until the bread is the desired taste.
6. Cook at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until the stuffing is browned.

Other sides included in our meal:

• Green olives
• Black olives
• Veggie plate
• Chebe breadsticks from Jungle Jim's
• Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (not GF)
• Chex mix (not GF)
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy (gluteny and gluten-free versions)
• Gluteny noodles
• Gluteny stuffing
• Cranberry jelly
• Date pudding (gluteny and gluten-free versions)

Our meal included 9 items that were homegrown:

• 1 rainbow ranger chicken (for broth and as a meat choice)
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 pumpkin
• Numerous duck eggs
• Sage
• Green beans
• Corn
• Persimmon (used in our family-recipe date pudding)
• Potatoes

We normally would have had our own sweet potatoes with some homemade maple syrup, but the sweet potato crop was dismal this year.

Mom & I had a blast and certainly learned a lot about cooking simultaneously in a shared kitchen and how to avoid the many risks of cross-contamination!

If there's anything in particular you'd like to fix for a gluten-free loved one, I'd be happy to play around in the kitchen until we've got something that works for you - hopefully before the big day!