Summer Cold? Gluten Free French Oven Soup Makes it All Better.

Summer colds are the worst!! First I was sick for two whole weeks and just as I was feeling better my husband gets sick. Two days later it was my turn to be sick again. As we were both sick with summer colds; I made a nice winter meal to makes us feel better. I purchased all my ingredients from Dierbergs with the exception of the gluten free French bread, which we were able to find at the New Gluten Free bakery in Ellisville, New Day Cafe. I am a feeling they are going to be one of my new favorite places.


Take 1 and half pounds of thinly sliced yellow onions and slowly cook them in 3Tb of olive oil and 1TB of butter (I buy the real butter with no added salt instead of margarine). I use a 4 quart dutch oven saucepan for all steps. Cook the onions for about 15 minutes (covered) on low heat in the butter and oil mixture.

Uncover the saucepan and add 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 of tsp of sugar (this helps the onions to brown). Raise the heat to medium level for a good for 30-40 minutes, do not skip this step, as it helps to reduce the strong onion flavor.

Next take 3TB of all purpose gluten free flour and mix into onions and cook for 3 minutes.

Take the saucepan off the heat. Add 2 quarts of of boiling gluten free beef stock. Then add 1/2 cup of dry white wine; I usually use chardonnay. Simmer, partially covered, for 30-40 minutes.

While cooking the soup as directed above take several pieces of gluten free French bread and bake it until it is crunchy like a crouton. Then shred 2 cups of fresh Swiss cheese. Take the bread cut it up in bite size pieces (just makes it easier to eat) and the shredded cheese and place them into the oven safe soup bowls.
Once the soup is cooked, pour soup over bread and cheese mixture and take Swiss cheese slices and cover the soup bowl (this will depend on the size of the bowl). Take bowls and place them in the oven under broil for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned. Then serve. It will need a couple of minutes to cool down.
I also like to serve garlic cheese bread with the soup. If you want to make that too, here are the instructions: Cut already baked gluten free French bread into about 1/4 inch slices, take a garlic clove and cut it in half and rub the cut side all over the bread slices. Pour a few drops of olive oil on one side of each slice and top with some shredded swiss cheese. Place under broiler for just a few minutes until cheese starts to brown.

Ingredients:

1 and half pounds of thinly sliced yellow onions
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 of teaspoon of sugar
3TB of gluten free flour
2 quarts of gluten free beef stock
1/2 cup of dry white wine
One loaf of gluten free French bread
A block of fresh Swiss cheese
A glove of garlic

Gluten Free Black Forest Cake: Yum!

Wow! My husband and I have been married for a year now! Our wedding cake was a delicious gluten-filled Black Forest Cake from La Bonne Bouchée in Creve Coeur. They have some of the best desserts I have ever tasted.
The original plan was to have La Bonne Bouchée make a new cake for our wedding anniversary. However, we could have never imagined I would not be able to eat the cake a year later due to my gluten intolerance. I decided to take my chances and make our own gluten-free Black Forest Cake from scratch.
I was very happy to find all of the ingredients at Dierbergs. The cake turned out amazing and you would never know it was gluten free. My husband said it tasted even better than our wedding cake, but he’s my husband, so I am sure he is biased.
We had also agreed that if he did not shove cake on my face on our wedding day (I did not want my makeup to be messed up), he could shove as much cake as he wanted in my face on our anniversary. He happily obliged as you can see in the picture. Happy baking!

Ingredients:

The cake:

1 1/2 cups white rice flour
3/4 cups tapioca flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup cocoa
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk (dairy, soy or rice)

The frosting and filling:

2 blocks cream cheese (or substitute)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 can cherry pie filling (gluten free)

The chocolate shavings:

1 bag of chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening

To make the chocolate shavings:

Melt the bag of chocolate chips and the vegetable shortening in a chocolate melter (a sauce pan will work as well, however the chocolate melter reduces the chances of the chocolate getting too hot). Line a loaf pan of plastic Tupperware with aluminum foil. Pour the melted chocolate into the dish and refrigerate for 2 hours. Once the chocolate has hardened, take a vegetable peeler along the edges of the chocolate chunk. Change sides often as the heat from your hand will melt the chocolate.

To make the cake:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Mix all dry ingredients except the cocoa and sugar in one bowl. Cream the eggs, sugar, mayo and cocoa in another bowl. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk. Whip together with an electric mixer for at least 5 minutes or until well blended. Pour into 2 nine-inch greased pans, bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, take cakes out of the pans and allow to cool for another 10 minutes.

Make the frosting:

Whip the cream cheese, sugar and cocoa together until well blended. Add water until the frosting is a thick, spreadable consistency; usually about a half a cup. Fill a frosting gun or bag with about 1/3 of the frosting and refrigerate till ready to use.

Assemble the cake:

Set one layer of cake on a plate. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the top of the cake, and frost the sides. Using the frosting gun or bag, pipe a rim of frosting around the outer edge of the cake (this is to hold the filling in, so don't skip this step!). Pipe swirls around the bottom of the cake. Fill the top of the first layer, inside the rim of frosting, with about 1/2 of the can of cherry pie filling. Place the second layer of cake on top. Put a layer of frosting on top of the second cake, and frost the sides. You will need to add extra frosting to the area where the two layers meet, to cover the gap and make sure no filling escapes. Pipe a rim of frosting around the top layer of the cake and add the rest of the cherry pie filling. Add the chocolate shavings on top.