Sunday, November 28, 2010

Punkin Pie Please!

Gluten free Thanksgiving....hard to accomplish?  Well, yes and no.  I took recipes from Epicurious and America's Test Kitchen and just modified.  So here is what we did for our Stuffing:

2 Bob's Red Mill cornbread mixes made according to instructions (we used rice milk)
5 stalks of celery
2 large onions finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup of chopped pecans
2 large apples, chopped
1 heaping teaspoon of sage
1 heaping teaspoon of thyme
1 heaping teaspoon of parsley
1 pound of gluten free sausage (we used the kind from Costco and just removed the casing)
3 15 oz cans of chicken broth
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste

After making the cornbread according to package directions, cut cornbread in half like a cake that you would frost.  Let it dry overnight.
Cube cornbread in the morning and dry further in the oven at 250 for an hour.

Saute sausage in a large pan.  Transfer sausage to a large bowl and use drippings to saute the celery, onion, and garlic until they are turning translucent.  This usually takes about 10 min.   I added a couple of tablespoons of butter at this point.  The original recipe calls for a cup of oil or butter...and that was not going to happen!  Add herbs and remove from heat.

Now in a HUGE bowl, place cubed cornbread, pecans, sausage, and vegetable mixture.  In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and broth together.  I used the low sodium broth and did end up adding the additional teaspoon of salt.  Now pour the liquid over the cornbread cubes.  Combine well and place into 2 9X13 pans.  I had a large 11X14 and still filled 2 sheets of Muffin cups with the rest. (isn't that a great idea for stuffing?!  My husband loves crispy, not soggy stuffing, so if you like it this way, it's all about edges...the more stuffing has contact with the pan, the crispier it gets)

Place stuffing in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes covered in foil.  Then remove foil and cook another 25 mins.  The muffin tins don't take nearly as long, 25 to 30 minutes tops.



Now for Pumpkin Pie....
Bobs Red Mill Shortbread Cookie Mix
2 cups of pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 heaping teaspoon of ginger
1 1/3 cup of light coconut milk in a can
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 eggs

Make a Bobs Red Mill Shortbread Cookie Mix according to package directions.  Divide dough in half.  Press shortbread dough into a greased pie tin.  Cook crust for 15-20 minutes until it is set.

Meanwhile, combine the puree, sugar, spice, milk and eggs.  Mix well.  Pour mixture into hot pie crust.  I used a large pie plate from pampered chef (the stone one) and it took longer than the 25-35 minutes to cook.  I would recommend more like 40-50 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  It turned out fabulously!  The shortbread wasn't too sweet, the pie was spicy and didn't taste at all like coconut.  Of course my secret ingredient is the fact that I roasted my own squash and pureed it in a food processor the day before.  If you are brave enough to attempt this (it takes a while...just warning you) buy a sweet meat squash.  The skin is a pale greenish blue and it is a super dense squash.  It's more like a cross between a butternut and a pumpkin.  Hope you enjoy!