Asian Pear, Hazelnut & Amaranth Financiers

I made Asian Pear, Hazelnut & Amaranth "Financiers" from Nectar today with BoyBee and they were delicious...I say "financiers" because I don't actually know how to say that word and I don't have the special pan so I just used a muffin pan. I though I'd share the recipe with my readers since it was so tasty. I love the nutritional value provided by the hazelnut meal and the amaranth flour! BoyBee had a great time pressing down the pieces of asian pear and sneaking a few bites :)

Photo credit: Nectar

ASIAN PEAR, HAZELNUT & AMARANTH FINANCIERS

Makes 8

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup natural cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped

4 egg whites

1/2 cup hazelnut meal

1/2 cup amaranth flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 small Asian pear, peeled, cored, and diced

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease your individual bundt pans or line muffin pan with baking cups. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium high heat until the milk solids start to brown, about 5 minutes. Pour the brown butter (through a fine seive) into a bowl to cool for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla seeds. Rub all the ingredients together between your fingers until you can smell the lemon release its oils. Add the egg whites and whisk until lightly frothy. We are not looking for volume just that they are well mixed.

Add the hazelnut meal, amaranth flour, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add the butter and wisk. Scoop the batter into mold and fill a 3/4 of the way up. Toss the diced pears with the lemon juice. Divide the pears amongst the molds and lightly press them into the batter.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert them onto a cooling rack.

Recipe credit: Nectar

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Five Guys Burgers and Fries

I contacted Five Guys Burgers and Fries last week to find out if their burgers and fries are safe for celiacs to eat. Here is their reply:

Thank you for taking the time to write in to Five Guys. We have received your concern.

It is never a problem to answer the questions of our customers, as we realize that health concerns are very important!

As it stands, we never guarantee no cross contamination because that is a risky promise to make! We ask all customers to use caution while dining at our store. However, be assured that we do take all possible precautions to prevent this i.e. our buns are toasted on a separate bread grill, and we place products on top of foil as opposed to directly on our prep surface. Many customers also find comfort in the fact that the kitchens of our restaurants are always kept open so they may watch their food be prepared! Our fryers for French fries ONLY cook French fries in that oil; NOTHING ELSE! Our burgers are made from pure 100% fresh ground chuck with no additives, fillers, or spices and our French fries are fresh cut potatoes, soaked in water and fried in refined peanut oil. There is no type of breading or coating put on them at all.

I am also pleased to inform you that we would be glad to prepare your burgers or dogs without a bun!

I do hope this adequately answers your questions and do feel free to let me know if I can answer any others!

Thanks again for reaching out to us and we hope that you and your family will enjoy us in the near future. We can’t wait to serve you!

Victoria Cerminaro
Customer Service Representative

Thanks Five Guys! That's a very thorough answer :)

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How to Save Money Eating a Gluten Free Diet

Grocery Alerts, a Canadian website focusing on Canadian grocery store deals (sales, coupons etc.) asked me to write a guest post for their site. The topic I chose was "How to Save Money Eating a Gluten Free Diet". Head on over to Grocery Alerts if you're interested!

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Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes

Photo courtesy of Roost.

First off, I need to tell you I have followed a lot of really beautiful and sexy food blogs. (Am I allowed to say sexy on here?) There are some wonderful sites out there and they are so great for inspiration. The photos are amazing and the recipes usually follow suit. Nothing I have seen compares with Roost. Roost is such a beautiful website that it left me speechless for a while. Even now I don't have the words to describe the beauty of it. You will have to see for yourself. The photography is absolutely breathtaking.

I first came across Roost when a friend sent me a link to their recipe for Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes. The pancakes in the photos looked fantastic, and the recipe was very healthful. I knew they would be easy for BoyBee to eat...and he seems to like anything that resembles a pancake. (If you've noticed that I have a slight obsession with pancakes, that is the reason why.) I've tried a few recipes based on almond flour, and while I am quite fond of almonds I was not fond of almond flour as a base flour in baking. I think it was the following statement on Roost that hooked me:

I scoured the internet searching for alternatives and found several recipes for almond flour pancakes. So with much trial and error I have found a combination to satisfy our cravings.

It sounded like Roost had already done the experimenting for me; I figured the recipe was worth trying. The pancakes are super healthy and I knew I would be ecstatic if BoyBee would eat such a healthful pancake. These pancakes easily exceeded my expectations. BoyBee gobbled them up without me even asking him to try them, and I loved them as well. We'll certainly be making them regularly.

Today I feel grateful that we were forced to explore a gluten free life. We have learned about so many new foods, and have found such healthier options for many traditional foods that we never would have thought to try. We still have much more to discover. With so many incredibly inspiring food blogs out there I am absolutely swimming in ideas and loving it!

Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes

2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3 overripe bananas

2 eggs

ghee for greasing the pan (or coconut oil or butter)

honey and berries for topping

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients (including bananas).Pour wet and dry ingredients into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Heat a non-stick griddle pan or skillet and grease with ghee, coconut oil, or butter. Pour batter (if a little thick use a spoon to help flatten out the batter in the pan) into 4-inch rounds. Cook and flip until each side is done.

Remove from pan and spread with ghee, butter or coconut oil. Drizzle with honey. Top with berries and enjoy your Saturday!

Makes about 12 4-inch pancakes

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The Gluten Free Awards

I recently came across GFREEK.COM - this website conducts a survey each year to identify which gluten-free products are the best. The Gluten Free Awards publishes a winner in various categories...Pancake and Waffle Mix...Snack Bar...Gluten-Free Publication etc. They've completed this years survey and are starting to release the results of each category. It is a great resource and likely to save you some money as well if you can avoid a good portion of the trial and error of gluten free products.

You can check out G-Freek's Second Annual Gluten Free Awards here. I'm looking forward to seeing full results!

Thanks G-Freek for putting this together!

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