Ask anyone who makes latkes what they think of their recipe (or their mother’s or grandmother’s recipe) and most will tell you that “it’s the best.” And they’re right. I mean, we’re talking about fried potatoes here. So two years ago when I decided to create sweet potato latkes to celebrate Thanksgivukkah, I didn’t want a recipe that competed with my traditional potato latkes. After all, that recipe is the best, so why mess with it?

I thought about what I loved about latkes—besides everything—and realized that the grated onion, just a supporting player in my regular recipe, would pair really well with sweet potatoes. I jotted down a note to increase the onion. I also wanted the eggs to play a slightly prominent role. Usually I add only enough egg to hold the potatoes and onions together; for this recipe, I decided to add an extra egg or two.

But before I settled on just how much onion and how many eggs to add, I pulled out my grater. As I started grating, I remembered what Ruth, the woman who taught me how to make latkes, once said. “The most important tools for making latkes are strong hands and a kitchen towel.” Ruth would grate her onions and potatoes and then aggressively twist them in a kitchen towel to wring out excess moisture. As she twisted the towel tightly, her hands strained with the effort. Not only were her latkes nice and crisp, but they were dry enough that they didn’t splatter during frying.

After ensuring that my sweet potatoes and onions were as dry as possible, I sprinkled the mixture with white rice flour, salt, and a generous amount of freshly grated pepper. Then, I added four whisked eggs. The mixture appeared looser than my regular latke recipe but for an eggy latke, it looked about right.

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Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Latkes

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion peeled
• 1 pound sweet potatoes peeled (about two large sweet potatoes)
• 1/2 cup white rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large eggs, beaten (about 5 1/4 ounces; 150 grams, out of shell)
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Sour cream and applesauce for serving

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200 °F. Grate onion and sweet potatoes using a food processor fitted with a medium grate, or on the large holes of a box grater. Combine in a medium bowl.
• Place half of the onion and potato mixture on a clean kitchen towel. Roll the towel around the mixture and wring the towel to draw out excess moisture. Unroll the towel and transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining onion and potatoes
• In a small bowl, whisk together the white rice flour, salt, and pepper. Add to the potato mixture and stir to combine. Add the eggs and stir to combine. Line a rimmed baking sheet with several layers of paper towels and set it near the stove but safely away from the burner. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in an 8-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
• Working in batches, drop the potato mixture into the hot oil by scant 1/4-cups. (The mixture should sizzle when it hits the oil.) Using two forks, flatten each latke a little in the pan. (You almost “pull” the latkes apart to flatten.)
• Fry until deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip with a pancake flipper or spatula and fry an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven while you cook remaining latkes. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.

The post Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Latkes appeared first on Gluten-Free Baking.

Ah, stuffing. It always feels like the most personal dish on the Thanksgiving table. If you want to make a gluten-free bread, I’ve got you covered! This recipe makes a classic gluten-free stuffing. But it doesn’t stop there! You can personalize how ever you’d like. Want apples? Sausage? Or my favorite, a chicken liver? Go for it! This gluten-free stuffing is flexible enough to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters!

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: Step by Step

Here’s the low down on how to make gluten-free stuffing. Full recipe below. (and lots of explanation in between.)

1. Bake or buy a loaf of gluten-free bread.
2. Cut bread into cubes and toast. (Step one and two can be done up to one week before Thanksgiving.)
3. If using meat, cook the meat thoroughly. Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the cooking oil behind.
4. On Thanksgiving (or the night before), place the toasted bread cubes in a large bowl.
5. Cook the vegetables and/or fruit. (If you don’t add meat to your stuffing, cook the vegetables in hot oil.)
6. Stir in the cooked meat, vegetables, dried fruit, and nuts (if using).
7. Add the broth in stages, allowing the bread to absorb the liquid after each addition.
8. Transfer the stuffing to a baking pan. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and return pan to the oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. If you prepared your stuffing the night before Thanksgiving, reheat it before serving until warm in a 325°F oven.

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: Start with Bread

Want to get gluten-free eaters talking? Mention bread. And in gluten-free stuffing, bread plays a pretty crucial role. Yet I don’t want the bread to steal the show. Rather, I like the bread in my stuffing to act as a supporting player. Gluten-free sandwich bread is perfect for the job because, thanks to its mild flavor, it doesn’t mute the flavors of the sausage, vegetables and herbs. Strongly flavored gluten-free breads, especially ones containing bean flours and/or buckwheat flour, often compete for flavor attention in stuffing, sometimes almost overpowering the other ingredients. That said, all gluten-free breads, from store-bought to homemade, multi-grain to white, work well in stuffing. So use a bread you love.

No matter what bread you select, cube and toast it before adding it to the stuffing. Left untoasted, gluten-free bread sort of falls apart, becoming mushy as soon as you add the stock to the recipe. Toasted gluten-free bread, however, behaves almost like wheat-based bread, striking that perfect balance of maintaining some individual cube integrity and slightly melting together—almost like a bread pudding.

To toast bread cubes, simply cut the loaf into thick slices, about a half-inch each, and cut those slices into bite-size cubes. Divide the cubes between two rimmed baking sheets and toast until the cubes are lightly golden brown and completely dry.Moisture is the enemy of bread cubes. If the cubes aren’t completely dry, the bread might get moldy during storage.

To ensure your cubes are dry, break one or two cubes in half. Feel the center. It should be dry, like the surface of a piece of toast. If it’s still damp, return the pan to the oven and toast the cubes a little longer.

And not only does toasting bread affect the texture of the final stuffing, it also affects the flavor. Toasting the bread cubes allows us to get rid of the flavorless moisture the bread contains and then replace that moisture with the flavorful broth we add to the stuffing right before baking.
There’s no need to worry about making your bread cubes the night before (or worse the day of) Thanksgiving. To make your prep easier, toast the bread cubes a few days before Thanksgiving. In fact, I’ve done it up to one week before the big day. Just be sure to allow the bread cubes to cool completely before storing them in a plastic bag.

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: The Vegetables, Sausage, and Other Good Stuff

Time for an honest moment. This recipe isn’t my favorite stuffing recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Kind of like how I love chocolate cake but if a chocolate chip cookie were available, I’d select the cookie.

You’ll find my absolute favorite stuffing listed in the variations: chicken liver stuffing. Yes, I love chicken liver stuffing. But I know I’m in the minority with my liver-based stuffing love; you should make a stuffing you love, too. Which brings me to vegetables, sausage and other good stuff.

This recipe makes a classic stuffing with sausage and herbs. If you glance at the recipe list and think, “Where are the apples? We always have apples!” or “She’s using sausage? I hate sausage!” Here’s what to do: include ingredients you love. On Thanksgiving your stuffing should taste the way you want it to taste. (Hence my addition of chicken livers.)

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: Broth Makes it Better

Just like selecting a bread you love, use a broth or stock you love. I use store-bought turkey stock. (Gluten often hides in store-bought stocks and broths. Be sure to read labels!) If you prefer homemade stock, use it.

How you add the broth to the stuffing is key. Dumping all the liquid over the bread cubes at once makes the edges of the bread soggy and leaves the center dry. Who wants dry stuffing? To avoid this problem, add the broth in two (or three) additions.

First add two cups of broth to the toasted bread cubes and gently stir the stuffing. After about a minute or so the bread begins to absorb the broth. Once this happens, add an additional cup of stock. Again, allow the bread cubes to absorb all the liquid. Then feel the bread. You want the bread cubes to be damp but not soggy. If the cubes still feel dry, especially in the center, add another cup of stock. The amount of broth needed for the recipe varies from loaf to loaf. Let your bread guide how much stock you add.

Gluten-Free Stuffing Variations: Vegetables and Fruit

Fennel: Add one cup diced fennel. Cook along with the celery.

Leeks: Replace the onions with an equal amount of chopped leeks. (Leeks are milder than onions. If you’d like a more pronounced flavor, increase the amount of leeks to three cups.)

Mushrooms: Slice one pound of mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms in two tablespoons of hot olive oil. Set aside. Add to the stuffing along with the other cooked vegetables.

Apples: Add one cup peeled, diced apples. Cook along with the onions.

Dried Fruit: Add up to 3/4 cup dried fruit, such as dried cranberries, chopped apricots, and chopped figs.

Nuts: Add up to 1/2 cup toasted, chopped nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds. (Nuts are a common allergen. Before serving, warn guests the stuffing contains nuts.)

Gluten-Free Stuffing Variations: Meat

Sausage: Replace the Italian sausage with another sausage. Chorizo, andouille, or chicken sausage are especially nice.

Chicken Liver: Replace the sausage with ten ounces of chicken liver. Cook the chicken liver in the olive oil, stirring constantly to prevent the liver from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Ground Beef, Pork, or Veal: Replace the sausage with eight to ten ounces of cooked ground meat.

Bacon: Add four slices of cooked, crumbled bacon. (Or you can omit the sausage if using bacon.) Drain all but two tablespoons of bacon fat from the pot and cook your remaining vegetables in the bacon fat.

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Gluten-Free Stuffing

Classic bread stuffing made gluten-free.

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

• 1 loaf gluten-free bread cut into bite-size cubes (8-9 cups)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 links sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing and broken into small pieces. (about 10 ounces)
• 2 cups chopped celery (about 4 large stalks)
• 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about four cloves)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups gluten-free turkey, chicken, or vegetable stock, divided (32 ounces; 900 grams)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 °F. Divide bread cubes between two large baking sheets. Toast until bread is golden brown and dry, about 30 minutes. Remove pans from oven and allow bread to cool.
• Grease a 9x13-inch baking sheet and set aside. Place bread cubes in a large bowl. In a large pot, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add sausage, break apart into small bites with a fork as it cooks. Cook until no pink pieces of sausage remain, about three minutes. Remove the sausage from the oil using a slotted spoon. Place sausage on a plate and set aside.
• Add celery. Cook until celery just begins to soften, about two minutes. Stirring frequently. Add onion. Cook for two minutes, continue to stir frequently. Add garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Cook until celery and onions are soft and aromatic. Spoon vegetables onto the bread cubes. Add sausage pieces and stir.
• Pour about two cups of the broth over the bread. Stir until cubes absorb the broth. This takes a minute. Add an additional cup of broth. Continue to stir until broth is absorbed. If bread seems dry, add final cup of broth. (Bread cubes should be moist but not soggy. It’s okay it the some of the cubes fall apart. This is normal.) Transfer stuffing to prepared pan.
• Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in a 325 °F oven until warm, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and return pan to the oven and bake until golden brown, about five minutes.

The post How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing for Thanksgiving appeared first on Gluten-Free Baking.

A few years ago, when one of my readers asked me to create a gluten-free green bean casserole, I was excited. Until then, I had never eaten the classic Thanksgiving side. After perfecting the recipe, a funny thing happened: several of my friends revealed themselves to be secret green bean casserole lovers. Now I make this for Thanksgiving every year.

Canning the Cans

Created by Campbell’s in 1955, the original recipe uses canned green beans and canned cream of mushroom soup. While de-glutening the recipe, I replaced the canned green beans with frozen because I prefer the texture. (And if fresh green beans had looked good at the market, I would have used those. That said, if you love canned green beans in this dish because that’s how you’ve always made it, use them!)

To make Thanksgiving prep a little easier, you can make the casserole the night before. (Don’t top it with the fried onions the night before or they’ll get soggy.) About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, heat the casserole in the oven and then top with the freshly fried onions.

What’s green bean casserole without fried onions??? Unlike making batter-dipped onion rings (the kind you’d find on bar menus or frozen), these fried onions are thin strips. To do this, cut your onion in half and then cut each half into strips. Using your fingers, “break” apart the onion slices.

After dusting the onion strips with the flour mixture, drop them into hot oil. You’ll need to divide the onions into batches. If you fry too many onions at one time, the temperature of the oil will drop, making for greasy onion strips. Usually four to five batches of onion strips are best. As you can see, I don’t use a deep fryer. I cast iron skillet is perfect for this job.

The finished onion pieces should be golden brown and crisp. (I am so glad you can’t hear the sound of my nibbling on the other side of the screen. These babies are addictive!)

For the mushroom sauce, chop the mushrooms into small, bite-size pieces. These pieces don’t need to be perfect–at all! As you’ll see, the mushrooms get very small and soft.

More onions (and garlic too)! Begin the white sauce by sweating onions and garlic together until soft.

Once the onions are soft and aromatic, add the mushrooms. Cook until soft.

Add the milk and bring to a boil. This is important. Cornstarch needs to come to a boil to fully thicken. If you don’t boil the milk, your casserole will be thin.

Add the green beans and spoon the entire mixture into a casserole dish.

Top with fried onions and cheese. (I snapped this picture before I added the final addition of cheese. Sorry!)

Bake and you’re done!

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Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole

Consider doubling the onion part of the recipe if you like to munch on fried onions.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

For the Fried Onions

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch (3/4 ounce; 22 grams)
• 3 tablespoons white rice flour (3/4 ounce; 22 grams)
• 1 medium onion sliced into thin strips
• Vegetable oil for frying

For the Casserole

• Salt to taste (optional)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 8 ounces white button mushrooms, finely chopped (approximately 3 cups)
• 1 clove garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
• 2 cups milk, divided (16 ounces; 453 grams)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (1/2 ounce; 14 grams)
• 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen French-cut green beans, thawed and drained or 16-ounces fresh green beans, cleaned, trimmed, and cooked until tender
• 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided (3/4 ounce; 22 grams)

Instructions

• For the Onions: In a large zip-close bag, combine cornstarch and white rice flour. Add onions and shake bag to combine. Remove onions from bag; shake off any excess flour.
• Fill a large heavy-bottomed skillet (cast iron works best) with 1/2 inch of vegetable oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. (To test your oil, drop one onion slice into it. The onion should sizzle when it hits the oil. If it doesn't, the oil is not hot enough.) Fry a handful of onions, about 4- 5 batches, until golden brown and crispy. (Don't crowd the pan while frying.
• Remove onions from oil using a slotted spoon. Place on paper towel-lined plate to drain. If desired, season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining onions.
• For the casserole: Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add onion and garlic. Sauté until soft, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Cook until mushrooms are soft and tender, stirring frequently, about three minutes.
• Add 1 3/4 cups of milk and thyme. Bring to a boil. Once the mixture boils, combine remaining 1/4 cup of milk and two tablespoons cornstarch. Stir vigorously with a fork to combine milk and cornstarch. Quickly whisk in cornstarch. Allow to boil for 45 seconds. Remove from heat. Reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for three minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Add green beans, stir to combine. Pour into a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Top with half the grated Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove foil. Sprinkle fried onions and remaining cheese over the top of casserole. Return to oven until bubbling and lightly golden brown, about seven minutes.

The post How to Make Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole appeared first on Gluten-Free Baking.

Years ago, I read Kim Severson’s piece in the New York Times about salt potatoes. I remember thinking, “Those sound interesting. I should try them.” Two years later, I finally did! (I’m never one to rush!)

To be honest, I was surprised to learn that salt potatoes are a central New York dish. I’d never heard of the practice of boiling “new” potatoes in copious amounts of salt. Somehow this dish didn’t make the 150 mile jump from Syracuse to Albany. I’m sorry it didn’t! These potatoes are fantastic!

What makes these potatoes unique? The texture! The interior was really smooth and tender–almost like boiled potatoes, baked potatoes and mashed potatoes got together and created a baby! A tender, delicious, salty potato baby.

If you’re worried, like I was, that these potatoes will taste too salty, fear not. The salt is just right. And they are nowhere as salty as potato chips. To finish, I tossed the potatoes in melted butter and herbs.

Salt, potatoes, butter and herbs? Doesn’t that sound great?

Here’s how to make ’em

Grab a large pot and bring 10 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of Kosher salt to a boil. Then add the potatoes. There’s so much salt in the water that you’ll see it cling to the pot as the potatoes cook.

Drain. A lovely white coating of salt will cling to the potatoes.

Toss with butter and fresh herbs. Or just leave ’em alone. The salt potatoes are great on their own.

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New York Salt Potatoes

adapted from a recipe in the New York Times, August 22, 2008

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

• 10 cups of water
• 1 1/2 cups of kosher salt Note from the NYT: Add another cup if using the Diamond Crystal brand
• 3 pounds well-scrubbed small red or white potatoes I used new white potatoes
• 1/2 stick melted butter
• Chopped fresh herbs about a 1/4 cup (I used parsley and basil because it was what I had on-hand at the time.)

Instructions

• Bring the water and salt to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, add the potatoes.
• Boil for 20 minutes or until for tender.
• Drain and toss with butter and herbs. (If you don't want to toss with butter and herbs, you will be able to see the light salt crust on the potatoes.)

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