Tag: Gluten-Free

Happy Tu BiShvat! Coffee Coconut Date Balls

Happy Tu BiShvat, a.k.a. Rosh Hashanah for the trees!  In honor of this special New Year, why not challenge Daniel to an ingredient showdown and feature one of the 7 species – the humble date!  No, I’m not talking about a romantic walk on the beach or a candlelight dinner with your boo, but rather the sweet and sticky dessert-like treat that is native to Israel (sorry, I couldn’t help it)!  Dates are so versatile and they can be used in both savory and sweet treats!

So while Daniel may be whipping up something deliciously decadent and laden with meat (obviously), I’m going old school.  This was one of the first recipes I developed for my other (food and fashion) blog riskyveggie.com.  It’s been such a favorite among my readers and fellow food-eaters that I’ve done different versions of it over the years as well (mocha chocolate chip date balls, poppy-seed vanilla date balls – you name it)!  But time and time again, I always come back to this classic.

This is the dessert treat that I’m known to make for a family with a new baby – since it’s the perfect bite for nursing mothers!  My friend Joy had a baby a few years ago and of course I made her and her family a feast of a dinner and included a batch of these date balls.  She emailed me immediately and said it was the perfect middle-of-the-night bite when she needed some sustenance as she nurses her newborn at 3 a.m.  Granted, you can always omit the coffee, though it’s not a lot in the whole batch but if you are sensitive to it, just don’t include it!  What’s great too is that this recipe is so versatile and a great base for making it your own.  Sometimes I add cinnamon or maybe a scoop of vanilla protein powder or vanilla extract.  Sometimes I mix up the different coffee flavors!  And I might even add a few tablespoons of raw cocoa powder to amp up the richness of these bites of heaven.

My favorite part is how little time it takes to whip up a batch.  Add your ingredients into a food processor, roll them into balls, dust with coconut, freeze or refrigerate on wax paper until firm.  That’s it.  No oven to pre-heat or dough to make, or waiting for the dough to rise, or even a gazillion steps or ingredients.  But probably my FAV part about making these?  Even my picky-eating husband is a fan.

L’chaim to that! 🙂

5 from 1 vote
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Coffee Coconut Date Balls
Prep Time
20 mins
Freez
2 hrs
Total Time
22 mins
 
Servings: 20 Date Balls
Author: Rachel Katzman
Ingredients
  • 1 cup Dates I like Deglet Noor - they're softer and they come pitted in a big container from Costco (make your prep so much easier)
  • 2/3 cup Nuts Any type you have on hand is good - I like to mix it up between pecans, almonds, walnuts and cashews
  • 2 tbsp Ground Coffee I don't mind using ground coffee in this recipe but you could always add some cold brew or cooled coffee
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup Unsweetened Dairy-Free milk I like using almond milk
  • 1 cup, divided into 1/2 cups Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
  • 1 pinch Sea salt
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Optional (or you could do maple extract which would be delish)
Instructions

  1. Add the nuts into the bowl of a food processor and grind until finely ground (don't over-process or you'll end up with nut butter).

  2. Add the dates, 1/2 cup of coconut coconut, nut milk, cinnamon, coffee, vanilla (if using) and salt.

  3. Pulse until the mixture comes together kind of like a sticky dough.  Check the consistency to make sure it's dry enough to roll into a ball but not too sticky where it won't form.  

  4. Using a mini ice cream scoop, form the mixture into small balls and roll in the other 1/2 cup of shredded coconut.

  5. Place on a sheet of wax paper and freeze for 2 hours until firm or you can set them in the fridge.  If it's warm outside, it'll take a bit longer to set up, but they'll still be firm enough to eat.  I like mine frozen so I keep some there, anytime I need to deliver a batch of these date balls!

Don’t forget to check out Daniel’s Tu BiShvat date recipe: Mergez Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Beef Bacon

 

My Bubbie’s Tuna Casserole

Tuna CasseroleTuna casserole.  Just the name brings up fond memories (and heavenly aromas) for most of us who grew up with this classic dish.  But this isn’t just ANY tuna casserole.  Nope, this one is extra special to me.

My grandma, or “Bubbie” (my father’s mother), Madeline, passed away 1 year ago this week, and she was famous for her “Tuna Romanoff”, as the original recipe calls it (unclear where exactly it came from, but probably some classic cookbook somewhere).  It’s the dish that my siblings and I constantly craved from when we were young. We always requested it when we came over to my Bubbie and Zayde’s house. My Bubbie usually had one stashed in the freezer, because she knew how much we loved it.

 

Reinventing a Classic

So it’s been a crave-able dish for so long.  And for good reason – there is a TON of fat in here (my fellow keto community, rejoice!) lots of full-fat dairy!!! But there’s also a lot of ingredients that I personally don’t eat these days. Things like cream of mushroom soup (too much sodium and I’d rather make it myself), and pasta (too many carbs for me, personally).  I’m all for the classics, but I love using fresh mushrooms instead of the condensed can of thick mushroom soup.  And instead of pasta?  Ah, how about cauliflower?  This time I used mini florets!

So it seemed only fitting that for my Bubbie’s 1st yahrzeit, why not re-create her rich, creamy, savory tuna casserole into something a bit more Rachel-friendly, but more modern too – a perfect way to celebrate her life!

Preserving a Memory

Gold-foiled recipe art

And, to top it off, a few months ago, I decided to have this recipe framed in this cool gold foil curated piece, from minted.com. I feel so grateful to have a few copies of some classic Bubbie recipes she wrote down many years ago.

I got a few other recipes too – a decadent and rich spinach and cheese mostaccioli and an insanely buttery, ooey gooey St. Louis coffee cake. The cake was known, when my dad was growing up, as the “Shiva” cake, because when the kids came home from school and they saw a cake sitting on the kitchen table, they knew that a Shiva call was in the books. Sorry kids, no cake tonight for you!

It’s little stories of my Bubbie and Zayde like these that are so touching, yet there’s always a little bit of humor in them. Bubbie had many “Shiva” cakes stored in her freezer – I guess like any Jewish grandmother would.

Another funny story, she used to put her garbage in the freezer, so it wouldn’t smell!  Honestly, I think it’s kind of a brilliant idea! The first time my mom came home to meet my dad’s parents, she opened up the freezer and looked a little stunned and immediately went to tell my dad about the oddities she found in that ice box.  I know, I’m dating myself, ha! 🙂

Mad (as she was affectionately known) would have absolutely loved this. She loved feeding people so I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to honor her memory. Plus, she was a very classy lady, so a gold foiled-frame with her recipe, and reinventing a “classic”?  It’s Bubbie-approved perfection in my book.  I know she’d be smiling, giving me her lovable “Bubbie kisses” and saying “oh doll, how special!  What a wonderful treat, Rachel Shira”.

This is for you Bubbie – I miss you!

My Bubbie’s Tuna Casserole Recipes

0 from 0 votes
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Reinvented Tuna Casserole
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr
 
Servings: 6 people
Author: Rachel Katzman
Ingredients
  • 2 cups cauliflower florets I used frozen (thawed) mini florets
  • 3 5 oz. cans tuna (packed in water)
  • 1 cup full-fat sour cream
  • 1 cup full-fat cottage cheese
  • 1/4 cup green beans, sliced into small chunks You can use fresh or frozen or even canned - whatever you got!
  • 1 cup mushrooms, diced Use any kind you like! White button mushrooms work just fine here 🙂
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup pecans, lightly toasted and chopped
  • 2 tbsp pimento, or roasted red peppers
  • 1.5 tsp dehydrated onion
  • 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
  • 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1/4 tsp thyme
Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.

  2. Add the ghee to a hot skillet and saute the mushrooms, about 5 minutes until softened.  

  3. Add the heavy cream and season with a dash of salt and pepper and add the thyme.

  4. In a large mixing bowl, add the tuna, cauliflower, pimento, sour cream, cottage cheese, dehydrated onion, seasoned salt, pepper, Tabasco and pecans (just take a dry skillet and toast the pecans for a few minutes over medium heat - be careful not to burn - then roughly chop).

  5. Pour the tuna mixture into a greased casserole dish.

  6. Add the mushroom and cream mixture and pour on top - do no mix in.

  7. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

  8. Serve hot! YUM!

Passover Sweet Potato Knishes

Passover Sweet Potato KnishesWe are making our own Passover Seder for the first time this year, so I was looking for a side that would be traditional but have a bit of a wow factor at the same time.  What is more traditional than a Knish?  The problem is most knishes use a wheat flour dough which is chametz which we do not eat on Passover.  I started out by trying to make a potato starch dough and failed miserably, so I decided to go the “breading” route.  The problem is most breadings (bread crumbs, panko, cereal etc.) are also chametz.  To make my life even harder I wanted to keep this recipe gluten free (non-gebrochts) and nut free.  This ruled out using matzo meal or ground nuts, both commonly used as a Passover friendly breading.

I used an idea I learned from my father and went with potato flakes (AKA instant mashed potatoes). I used them straight out of the box, although in the future I would probably give them a quick whirl in the food processor to give them a finer texture and to hopefully help them adhere a little better.

For something a little healthier don’t forget to check out Rachel’s latest Passover recipe: Cauliflower Hummus and Tomato Herb Flaxseed Focaccia for Pesach!

5 from 1 vote
Passover Sweet Potato Knishes
Print
Passover Sweet Potato Knishes
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
Total Time
2 hrs
 

A great snack or side for your Passover Seder. This recipe is gluten free (GF), nut free, and vegetarian. You can easily double or triple this recipe or substitute the sweet potatoes for standard russet potatoes.  If you don't need your knishes to be gluten free or kosher for Passover you can substitute all-purpose flour for the potato starch. 

Course: Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Jewish, Kosher, Passover, Pesach, vegetarian
Servings: 6 Knishes
Author: Daniel Peikes
Ingredients
  • 2 Large Sweet Potatoes
  • 1 Cup Potato Starch Divided in half. If you don't need your knishes to be gluten free or kosher for Passover you can substitute all-purpose flour for the potato starch.
  • 2 Large Eggs Beaten separately
  • 2 Cups Instant Potato Flakes Lightly blitz in your food processor with the "S" blade if you prefer a finer texture
  • Salt and Pepper To taste
  • Oil For Frying
Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F.  Poke the sweet potatoes all over with a fork.  Bake until soft.  Remove from the oven and let cool.

  2. Once cooled, remove the skin from the sweet potatoes and mash in a large mixing bowl.  Combine with half the 1/2 the potato starch (1/2 a cup), one of the beaten eggs, and the salt and pepper.  Use a fork to combine thoroughly.

  3. Take about a a golf ball sized amount of the sweet potato mixture and shape it in to a disc. Dust the disc in remaining potato starch, then dip in the other beaten egg, and finally coat in the potato flakes. Repeat until you use all of the sweet potato mixture.

  4. Put about a 1/2" of oil in a frying fan and put on the stove over medium heat. Fry on each side until golden brown.