Kountrygirl Farm

Birds, Bees, Flowers, Trees...and Goats

In the Kitchen

Gluten Free-Sugar Free Bluberry Muffins

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INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups Gluten free APF
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
  • 3/4 cup monk-fruit, 1-1
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 lrg eggs, room temp
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temp
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, reserve 36.

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease a muffin pan with butter or line with baking cups.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and monk-fruit until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
  5. Add half the flour mixture and beat just until blended.Beat in buttermilk and applesauce, then add remaining flour mixture and beat till blended.
  6. Gently fold blueberries, minus the reserved 36, into the batter.
  7. Spoon batter into muffin pan.
  8. Press 3 blueberries into each muffin top.
  9. Place the pan into the oven and immediately reduce heat to 375 F.
  10. Bake for 30 minutes and let cool for 5 minutes.
  11. Place muffins on cooling rack until cool to set.

NOTES

Yield-12 servings
Each muffin:
260 calories
20 g carbs
1.5 g protein

Tarragon Chicken Salad

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1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup red or white grapes, halved
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (or walnuts)
1 cup mayonnaise (or plain greek yogurt)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Lightly spray a 6-quart slow cooker with oil. Arrange the chicken in the slow cooker, cover, and cook on high for 4 hours.
Remove the chicken from the slow cooker (if desired, reserve any drippings for another dish–like soup!). Cut chicken into 1/2-inch cubes. Transfer chicken pieces to a large bowl. Add celery, grapes, and toasted pecans.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Add to the chicken, grapes and toasted pecans. Stir to combine. Fold in fresh tarragon. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 3 days

Beer Bread

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Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour (sifted)
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
  • 1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 (12 ounce) can beer
  • 1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup will do just fine)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Mix dry ingredients and beer.
  • Pour into a greased loaf pan.
  • Pour melted butter over mixture.
  • Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Eggplant Parmesan – Mediterranean Style

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If eating more vegetables is your goal, this one makes veggies a meal. Updated to a healthier, Mediterranean Style recipe, it’s both healthy and delicious.

Ingredients

1 wide eggplant
5 ounces shredded Kaseri Cheese or Caciocavallo or Mozzarella (used mozzarella)
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan
Basil or pesto
Olive Oil
For the tomato sauce:
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 medium onion chopped
1 to 2 mushrooms chopped
2 to 4 cloves garlic minced
Salt/Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cut eggplant slices about 1/2 inch thick. Cutting the eggplant lengthwise works too.
2. Place eggplant slices in a colander, salt and let the eggplant sit for about an hour, this helps remove the excess moisture.
3. Prepare sauce by sautéing onion until translucent in 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add garlic and mushrooms and continue sautéing for another minute. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven at 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius).
5. Dust each side of eggplant slices with grated Parmesan.
6. Now either dry fry slices for about 6 minutes, or bake in preheated oven of 450 degrees Fahrenheit (230 Celsius) and and for 15-20 minutes.
7. Once your eggplant slices have been dry fried or baked begin assembling.
Brush a 13×9 pan with olive oil or you can spread tomato sauce. Place the eggplant, then basil or pesto, then tomato sauce,  and then cheese on each piece.
8. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until eggplant is soft.
9. Serve.

Fig and Date Bread

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped pitted dates
  • 1 cup chopped dried figs*
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 cup Demerara sugar**
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8×4 inch baking pan.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the dates, figs, butter and baking soda. Pour in the boiling water, stir well and let stand for 15 minutes.
  • Beat the sugar, walnuts and eggs into the date mixture. Combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the date mixture just until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
* Substitute 3/4 cup dried cranberries and 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger for figs.
**Substitute Honey for sugar

Ciabatta Rolls

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These favorites take about 19 hours to produce and are well worth the effort.

Ingredients

  • For Pre-ferment
    • 177 g all purpose flour
    • 1/6 tsp Instant Yeast
    • 177 g Room Temp Water
  • For Dough
    • 361 grams all purpose flour
    • 1 packet (7 grams) instant yeast
    • 2 tsp (12 grams) kosher salt
    • 2 Tbsp (14 grams) instant non-fat milk
    • 152 grams water
    • 3 Tbsp (35 grams) olive oil

Instructions

  • Start by making a pre-ferment with 177 grams of all-purpose flour, 1/16th tsp of instant yeast and 177 grams of room temperature water. Mix together until it resembles a too-thick pancake batter. Wrap tight in plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 hours, then refrigerate overnight.
  • For the main dough, add the following to the bowl of your stand mixer: 361 grams of all-purpose flour, 1 packet (7 grams) of instant yeast, 2 tsp (12 grams) of kosher salt, 2 Tbsp (14 grams) of instant non-fat milk, the entirety of the pre-ferment, 152 grams of lukewarm water, and 3 Tbsp (35 grams) of olive oil.
  • Mix together using the paddle attachment. Once it all comes together, remove the paddle and replace with a dough hook and knead on medium-low speed for 7-8 minutes until smooth, shiny, and sticky.
  • Use the dough stickiness to roll into a taught ball. Place it into a well-oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or more than doubled in size.
  • Using an oiled rubber spatula, fold the dough in and on itself, turning the bowl as you go, 8 times. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes and then repeat the process one time.
  • After another 30 minutes, spread the dough into a large rectangle on a well-floured work surface. Pop any huge bubbles that appear, and then trim the dough into your desired size ciabatta pieces – I recommend 4×6 inches or 4×8 inches.
  • Set the pieces of dough on a heavily floured piece of parchment paper set in a rimmed baking sheet. Cover with an inverted rimmed baking sheet. Let proof and rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
  • Cut the parchment in half (so you have half the dough on one side), spritz dough pieces generously with water, and sprinkle with a little more flour. Use a pizza peel to place the dough on a preheated pizza stone in a 450°F oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until browned and puffed.
  • Brush off the excess flour and let cool for at least one hour.
  • Use a shallow rimmed baking sheet as a cutting template to cut the bread in half with a bread knife.