Grain Free Scone Recipe

Other than sourdough bread, I still enjoy a paleo lifestyle. I developed these scones when I was producing our Kuwl Flour Pantry mixes. Our Kuwl baking flour was an almond nut based flour, but these scones can be made with any paleo or keto flour. 

Did you know that a typical scone is made with a lower protein flour like “pastry flour” which produces “less gluten strands”, which in turn give scones their light and fluffy texture. Although a paleo or nut flour is high in protein, it has no gluten.. and gives the same light and fluffy texture in scones. 

I have had much success with these scones! 

2 cups Paleo Baking Flour 

3 Tbp. sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick chilled unsalted butter (cut into chunks)

1/2 cup chilled heavy cream

1 large egg 

1/2 teaspoons vanilla or lemon

Glaze- 

3 tablespoons Cream or half and half

1/4 cup Demerara sugar or turbinado sugar, optional

✨Additions Frozen Blueberries, chocolate chips, cranberries…

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare for baking: 

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick vegetable oil spray or nonstick baking spray and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream and egg yolks and whisk to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

Sift the dry ingredients: 

Sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

Add the butter: Scatter the butter chunks over the flour. If you are using a stand mixer, mix at medium-low speed for 30 seconds. If you are using a food processor, process in 8 (1-second) pulses. Either way, the mixture should resemble powdery sand in some spots and coarse sand in others. Do not overmix.

Add the egg mixture: Add the egg mixture and mix at medium speed for 30 to 45 seconds, or process in 4 (1-second) pulses, just until the dough barely comes together. It should be lumpy, with raggedy edges — not smooth at all.

Additions

✨(If adding chocolate chips or blueberries, add them in now before you make a disc. Sprinkle chocolate chips or frozen berries overtop of dough. Use your hands to gently work in the added ingredients, distributing them as you go, until you form the dough disc. Follow next instruction to make the dough disc.)

Cut the dough: Divide the dough in half. Sprinkle a pinch of flour on top of one of the halves and shape into 6- to 7-inch round with a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Repeat with the other portion of dough. Use a pizza wheel or a large knife to cut each circle into 6 even wedges. Be sure to cut all the way through to the bottom so the wedges are separated. Using a pie server or a spatula, lift the wedges, one at a time, and arrange on the prepared baking sheet, about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch apart.

Brush with Cream : Brush the tops of the scones with the melted cream. Sprinkle with sugar if using.

Bake the scones: Bake until golden-brown on the tops and bottoms, 15 to 18 minutes.

Julia Child's Salade Nicoise

SALADE NICOSIE

A recipe favorite from Julia Child's book,  "The Way To Cook".

Here are a few photo's of my salad preparations.. I kept pretty close to the original recipe, except for the anchovies. While "I" love anchovy's.. my youngest child freaked a little at the notion of scaly little fishes across her salad. Other than that.. it's pure Julia!! Definitely make this salad.. it has a few components that you can make ahead of time so that the recipe doesn't seem so daunting for a cooking newbie. 

Buon Appetito.. or as Julia would say, "Bon Appetit!"

Julia Child’s Salad Nicoise

Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. 

Ingredients

1 head of Boston Lettuce, large, washed and dried (I used Butter lettuce)
1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed, blanched
3 or 4 fine rip red tomatoes,quartered and seasoned before serving (I used cherry tomatoes)
8 to 10 ounces oil-packed tuna, drained and flaked
2 cups French potato salad (recipe follows)
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
2-3 flat anchovy filets packed in oil
1/2 cup black Nicoise-type olives
3 or 4 Tbs. capers
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt and pepper, to taste

French Potato Salad
5-6 white potatoes, cooked to fork tender
1-2 Tb olive oil
1 Tb white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Flat leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

Shortly before serving, line a large, wide salad bowl or a roomy platter with lettuce leaves, drizzle a little olive oil on them, and dust with a sprinkling of salt.
Toss the green beans in a mixing bowl with a little olive oil and salt.
Drizzle a spoonful or two of the dressing over the tomatoes.
Season the tuna lightly with a spoonful or two of dressing.
Place the potatoes in the center of the bowl or platter; mound the beans, the tomatoes and tuna.
Ring the salad with the eggs and anchovy.
Spoon a little more vinaigrette over all; scatter on olives, capers, and parsley. Serve as soon as possible.

French Potato Salad:
Boil potatoes to fork tender.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and slice potatoes. Dress with drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, 
1 Tb white wine vinegar and chopped parsley.

Crustless Shepherds Pie

This amazingly tasty dish has been making an appearance throughout Europe for hundreds of years. Mutton, lamb, beef and even fish, can easily find it's way into this British pie. 

I was first introduced to an English Shepherds pie early in my college days while on a short one month missions trip to Englend. Previously in my home, we made this with a pastry crust, but recently a British friend of mine told me that they make theirs without a crust all together. So easy to prepare and still just as satisfying! 

This recipe is pretty much allergy friendly and has ingredients that can easily be adapted to fit your dietary needs. Hope you enjoy!!

Ingredients

6 cups Mashed Potatoes (recipe follows)

2 cups Brown Sauce (recipe follows)

2 lbs. Ground Lamb or Beef

½ Onion

Salt and pepper

Butter or margarine

3 cups Dubliner Cheese Grated, I use Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese (*Please see note at the bottom)

3 Carrots cleaned and cut into small squares and cooked till tender.

1 Cup Peas (frozen not canned) cooked

6 Crimini Mushrooms cleaned and sliced

Mashed Potatoes

2-3 pounds russet potatos

3 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine

3/4 to 1 cup raw milk or *Rice milk 

Salt and white pepper to taste

Peel potatoes and cut into 2-inch pieces. In a large heavy saucepan simmer potatoes in salted water to cover by 1 inch 10 minutes, or until tender, and drain in a colander. In pan or bowl combine potatoes, butter or margarine, and 3/4-cup milk. With a potato masher or blender mash potatoes until just smooth, adding more milk and butter if necessary to make a creamy but not pasty potato. *Over cooking and blending your potatoes will make them too starchy. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Brown Sauce

3 shallots or scallions, finely chopped

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

10-½ -ounces beef broth, canned is fine

1 Tb. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce (this is gluten free)

1 Tsp. Fresh Tarragon leaves finely chopped

½ Tsp. thyme

Salt, pepper

Sauté chopped shallots or scallions in butter. Gradually add wortsheshire and beef broth. Let it come to a boil and add the seasonings. Cook down for a few minutes. Let simmer for a few minutes and strain. Set aside.

Ground Lamb or Beef

Finely chop ½ an onion. Sauté in 2 Tbsp. butter. Add ground meat and cook. Drain liquids. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Vegetables

Mix prepared vegetables together.

Preparations

In a lasagna or sheet cake pan, start with mashed potatoes layer your ingredients, always adding cheese and sauce after each layer. Repeat process until you end with mashed potatoes on top. Potatoes can be piped on for a decorative finish but it is not necessary. Bake Shepherds Pie in a pre-heated 375° oven for 20 minutes. If potatoes start to brown too quickly loosely cover with foil.

*Cheese can be omitted for those with a dairy intolerance, or substitute your favorite dairy free cheese.

** Any milk ingredient in this recipe can be substituted with rice, coconut or almond milk to fit your dietary need.

Tomato Pie

This Tomato Pie recipe has been showing up in my dreams for the past few years since I first saw it shared by chef Vivian Howard on PBS’s A Chef’s Life. This recipe is so delicious, with its long roasted onions and two preparations of tomatoes, infused with basil and spice and topped with a creamy cheese sauce. It's so worth the time to roast your tomatoes and cook your onions for the amount of time Chef Vivian suggests. It gives the tastiest flavors.

    For the Filling 

• 3 cups diced and drained fresh tomatoes 
• 4 cups diced and roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup caramelized onions 
• 1/2 cup picked basil 
• salt
• pepper
• sugar 
• For the Topping 
• 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano 
• 1/3 cup grated Fontina
• 1/2 cup mayo 
• 1 pie crust

    Directions

1. For the diced and drained tomatoes 

Seed and dice about 3 cups fresh, high-quality tomatoes. Toss them with a little kosher salt and sugar. Set over a colander while you prepare the remaining ingredients if possible. If not, drain for a minimum of an hour. You should be left with about 2 cups of tomato. 

2. For the roasted tomatoes 

Seed and dice 4 cups fresh, high quality tomatoes. Toss them with olive oil (at C&F we use garlic oil), plenty of kosher salt, and several sprigs of thyme. Spread this mix out on a baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. You want the tomatoes to be dry and slightly caramelized, but not burned around the edges. You should be left with about 2 cups of roasted tomato.

3. For the Onions

Peel and slice (with the grain) 4 medium yellow onions. In a large sauté pan, heat 1/4 cup butter. Add the onions and season them with salt. Let the onions simmer and become juicy. Once the situation becomes a bit drier and much of the onion liquid has cooked out, turn down the heat, to its lowest setting and settle in for a long, slow caramelize. To get these onions where they need to be, it could take about 2 hours. You are looking for a medium brown, sweet caramelization. 

4. To Assemble the Filling

Combine the onions, fresh tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Keep in mind, tomatoes take a lot of seasoning to really make them shine in applications like this. 

5. To Bake and Serve

Spread the filling over the bottom of a blind-baked crust. Flatten the topping between wax paper or use your good ol’ hands to create a 1/3 inch thick round of delicious, cheesy topping that spreads nearly to the edges of the pie. Bake at 375 degrees until the top is nicely browned...20-25 minutes. Serve at just over room temperature.