January 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Gluten Free Graham Crackers and Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

Whew! Hunting down the ingredients for this recipe were difficult;  my town doesn't seem to be too gluten-free-friendly.  I used both white and brown rice flours instead of regular ol'  wheat flour to make the graham crackers gluten free.  The dough was super sticky and wet and I was so worried they wouldn't come out right, but they did!  Well, sort of.  I was out of parchment paper and thought that would be okay, but the crackers stuck really badly to the pan.  Luckily, I needed them to be crumbs anyway.

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers

• 1 cup (138 g) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
• 3/4 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
• 1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
• 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon Baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 7 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
• 1/3 cup Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
• 5 tablespoons Whole Milk
• 2 tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.

When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

~~~

The Nanaimo Bars are ... sweet.  Super-duper sweet.  I cut them too big so they're  a tad overwhelming, but the chocolate sandwiching the vanilla cream makes for a nice balance.  Hubby was not a fan of the coconut in the bottom layer; good thing he didn't notice the almonds!

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer

• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 5 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa
• 1 Large Egg, Beaten
• 1 1/4 cups Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
• 1/2 cup Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
• 1 cup Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

Middle Layer

• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons Heavy Cream
• 2 tablespoons Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
• 2 cups Icing Sugar

Top Layer

• 4 ounces Semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter

 For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

French Rabbit Stew

(I  planned to cook and post this recipe yesterday, but hubby and I were invited to a friend's house to watch the Saints game.  Neither hubby nor I are big football fans, but we figured what the hell.  We have grown up with the Saints being the losingest team around... And now, all I can say is WHO DAT! Saints going to the Superbowl? Never thought I'd see the day!)

Lately I have had the desire to try rabbit.   There is something primal about it; it seems only recently (relatively speaking of course) that we have stopped eating it and instead taken the cute little fluffies into our homes as pets.  Though, I do live in an area where people do at times eat rabbit, but it is an occasional thing.   Few restaurants have rabbit on the menu. 


A couple nights ago, hubby and I found ourselves at the grocery store trying to figure out what to eat.  As we were looking through the freezer "cajun" section, I saw rabbit.  I just had to have it and have it I did.  I at first planned to smother it all as a good Cajun would, but as I looked for some guidelines online, I came across a recipe for French Rabbit Stew.  I was lured by the glamour of the French and cast aside a Tony Chacheres gravy. 

Sadly, hubby and I weren't too impressed; nothing about this stood out.  I read that farmed rabbit is much more bland than wild so perhaps that accounts for the lackluster nature of the dish.   Whatever the reason may be, I have decided not to post the actual recipe.   I am undecided on whether I'll try rabbit again.

January 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge: Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

I was pretty excited because it is something I have always wanted to try but would never think to make.  I have always been super curious about peanut sauce!  I discovered it is tasty, but my fondness of peanut butter over the years has spoiled it.  After spooning some of the sauce over some rice, I just couldn't get over the feeling that I was eating peanut butter.  It was all psychological mind you.  I must try to overcome it.  The satay is tasty and fairly easy to make; it's just pork marinated for up to 24 hours then grilled (or broiled if it is the middle of winter).