Have a gluten-free Christmas!

A wonderful feast!

Poached pears

“I love any type of pear prepared in any sort of way,” she writes. “They are available year round and can be prepared at the last minute or the day before. In my experience, I have found that bosc or d’anjou pears work best for poaching. Ingredients needed are 6 ripe, firm pears; 2 cups white wine; 2 cups water; ½ cup sugar; ¼ teaspoon ground ginger; 6 saffron threads; 1 tablespoon orange rind and ¼ cup orange juice. You’ll need a 2-quart saucepan or a pan large enough to hold the pears. Place all the ingredients, except the pears, in the saucepan and bring to boil. Continue cooking liquid at a medium boil for 20 minutes. While the poaching liquid is cooking, prepare the pears. Peel the pears carefully, leaving the stem attached. Cut the pear on the bottom to allowing it to stand. To smooth out the flesh, use a non-soap scouring pad and lightly rub the flesh until the knife marks are removed. Once the poaching liquid is ready, place the pears stem up in the saucepan and bring liquid to a boil. Lower the heat until the liquid is simmering. Cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes. Allow the pears to cool in the liquid. Remove them and place the saucepan back on the stove and bring to boil. Continue cooking until liquid is reduced by ½, then pour it over the pears. Place each pear on a desert plate and pour some of the liquid over each. Add whipped cream if desired.

A wonderful feast!

Peach crumble!

“I like a thick and crunchy crumble topping on fresh fruit,” writes Goldstein. This simple recipe serves 6. The ingredients are 3 pounds peaches, peeled, pitted and cut in quarters – if fresh peaches are unavailable in your area at Christmas, use pears or apples instead; ¼ cup brown rice flour; ¼ cup millet flour; ½ cup brown rice flakes; ½ cup light brown sugar; ½ cup chopped pecans or almonds; ½ teaspoon cinnamon; a pinch of cloves; a pinch of salt; 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter and non-stick vegetable spray. You’ll need a 10-inch-round baking dish, a medium mixing bowl and a small microwave proof bowl. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat the baking pan with non-stick spray and place the fruit in the pan. In a medium mixing bowl, add the brown rice flour, millet flour, brown rice flakes, brown sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Melt the butter in small glass bowl and pour into the dry mixture. Mix the ingredients with your hands until evenly blended. Crumble topping evenly over the fruit and bake for 30 minutes. Delicious!

A wonderful feast!

Stuffed Mushrooms and Crudités

Crudités are healthy and easy to prepare without being too filling, says Goldstein, and the stuffed mushrooms are a warm and delicious tease to the meal to come. Chopped stems, onions, garlic, and kale sautéed in olive oil, then ricotta and parmesan cheese and some chopped parsley, make a wonderful mushroom stuffing. "Between half and one percent of people in this country are sensitive to gluten," Goldstein writes in her No Gluten Solution. So, the challenge is to put together a menu of gluten-free Christmas favorites and keep everyone happy. “The best outcome,” she says, “will be compliments, empty plates, and no mention of missing grains."

A wonderful feast!

Roast Turkey with Sage and Orange

Like vegetables and sweet potatoes, turkey is naturally gluten-free. With so many different types of turkeys on the market, Sheryl's preference is a free-range organic turkey. Organic feed free of antibiotics and hormones and no confinement to a cage yields a sweet and healthy bird. "Everyone has a favorite way to cook a turkey. I do not have an opinion on which is the best preparation," says Goldstein. Despite calories and fat content, she says she loves the skin. She likes to rub the turkey with a paste of safflower oil, salt, pepper, ground sage, and paprika. Then she stuffs the cavity with an onion cut into halves, an orange cut into quarters, and fresh sage leaves. She uses a meat thermometer to make sure the temperature has reached 165 degrees.

A wonderful feast!

Cookies? Cakes?

Why not! Several grains and starch sources provide excellent alternatives. Gluten-intolerant people have no problem with corn, potatoes, rice and tapioca. Other grains and starch sources that are seeing increasing use are amaranth, arrowroot, beets, buckwheat, millet, montina, lupin, quinoa, sorghum, taro, chia seed and yams. Many chefs are also using various types of bean, soybean and nut flours – such as almond flour – to add protein and dietary fiber. “To be honest with you, I don’t always prepare homemade cookies,” writes Goldstein. “I have found some very good gluten-free cookies in the store. You will need to buy a couple of different brands and taste them to find the ones you like. Not such a bad chore, but be careful because some are so good you could eat the whole package.”

A wonderful feast!

Chocolate cookies

“These chocolate cookies are tried and true,” she writes. “They not only taste great but can be prepared when you have time, and frozen to be eaten at a later time. Store them in an airtight container. The following recipe yields 2 dozen cookies. The ingredients you’ll need are 1 cup millet flour; 1 cup brown rice flour; 2 tablespoons tapioca starch; 1 teaspoon xanthan gum; 2 tablespoons tapioca flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 6 ounces unsalted butter; 1/3 cup sugar; 1 cup light brown sugar; 2 eggs; 2 tablespoons whole milk; 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips; 1/2 cup white chocolate chunks. You’ll need a medium bowl, a sifter or a fine-meshed sieve, a large mixing bowl, a small microwave-safe bowl, a hand mixer, a cookie sheets and some parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and sift together the millet flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, tapioca flour, baking soda and salt into the medium bowl. Melt the butter and pour it into the large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, slowly add the sugar to the butter until it is smooth. Continue mixing and add the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract to the bowl. The mixture should be smooth. Melt the semisweet chocolate chips in small bowl in microwave. Add the melted chocolate to the large mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly blended. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly blended. Remove from mixer. Stir in the white chocolate chunks, and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, place the cookie dough on the sheets. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the cookies to a plate to cool. And then enjoy!

A wonderful feast!

Chocolate chickpea cake!

“You might think I’m a little nuts using chickpeas in this recipe,” writes Goldstein, “but you will not be disappointed by the result. When I first started looking at gluten-free recipes, I came across cakes made with chickpeas and the idea intrigued me enough to give them a try. It took me a while, and many tries to find the right combination of ingredients that would satisfy my taste requirements, and this cake gets high grades. Everyone loves it, and I’m happy to say, it is a ‘piece of cake’ to prepare. You can’t go wrong serving it with homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. This recipe serves 12. Ingredients: 3 cups canned organic chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed; 1 ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips; 4 eggs; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 2/3 cup raw white sugar; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter; ½ teaspoon vanilla; pinch salt; ½ teaspoon grated orange rind; non-stick spray; (optional) 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar. Equipment: Colander, small microwave safe bowl, food processor or mixer, 10 inch round cake pan, sifter or small toothed colander. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; Grease cake pan with non-stick spray. Dust pan with cocoa powder, if desired. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute at 50 percent power. Stir and continue cooking for another minute at 50% power, or until the chocolate is melted. Place the chickpeas and eggs into the food processor and blend until smooth. Add the baking powder, sugar, butter, vanilla, salt and orange rind into bowl and pulse until the mixture is combined. Pour in the melted chocolate and blend until smooth. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen sides of cake and invert onto serving plate. Using sifter or colander, dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

A wonderful feast!

Crunchy Almond Cookies

“This is a classic Praline-type recipe that I just needed to find the right binder for and the millet flour fit the bill,” she writes. “These cookies can be made any time and kept in the freezer.” Ingredients are 3/4 cup finely chopped almonds; 1/2 cup raw sugar; 3 tablespoons butter; 1 tablespoon millet flour; 2 tablespoon heavy cream. You’ll need a heavy saucepan, 2 baking sheets, parchment paper and a round cookie cutter. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and combine all ingredients in the saucepan over medium low heat. Continue until the butter and sugar are dissolved. Then remove and cool for 10 minutes. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper and pour half the mixture on each sheet. Bake one sheet at a time for 6 minutes or until just browned. While they’re still on baking sheet, quickly cut the mixture into two- or four-inch cookies with a cookie cutter. Place each cookie on a cool surface. Repeat with second sheet. Makes 16-20 cookies. Enjoy!