Gluten Free Sweet Potato Pie

I got this recipe from a lovely lady who has been like a mother to me pretty much since I've started my life here in Georgia.  As much as she is a great person, she is also a great cook.  I love her sweet potato pie, but as my tinkering nerves like to join in the fun every time I make something, I've done it in a slightly different way, so that my funny brother-in-law can enjoy some pie too.  Here is how I made it.

The pie crust looks like this when it's ready.

For the gluten free pie shell:
1 scant cup uncooked rolled oats
3 tbsp brown sugar
2/3 cup walnuts/pecans, minced
1/3 cup butter (5 tbsp & 1 tsp), melted

I made it for our family Christmas gathering and I would like everyone get to eat some dessert, including my brother-in-law D, who is gluten intolerant, to be able to enjoy some sweet too.  So I tried out this pie crust recipe I found online and it turned out pretty well.  I saved the aluminum pie pan for Publix brand pie crust to use it as aide for this.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spread the rolled oats in a large shallow pan and bake for 10 minutes to toast.  Toss with sugar, nuts and melted butter.  Press over bottom and up sides of the 9" pie pan. Refrigerate while preparing the filling. Oh, to mince the nuts, I use the Pampered Chef food chopper to do the job.

I had a little leftover crust material, so I put it in a small ramekin.

This pie crust is not as messy to make as a regular gluten free pie crust made out of flour, as I made it last year.  It has a different texture as one would expect, but I can dig it.

For the filling:

1 big sweet potato, well done (about 1 & 1/2 cup or a little less when mashed up)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup & 2 tbsp sugar
Sprinkle of salt
1/4 evaporated milk *
1&1/2 eggs *
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* I made my own version of the evaporated milk with original unsweetened almond milk by Blue Diamond, since brother-in-law also can't have dairy (butter in cooking is ok).  Use 3 to 1 ratio, cook 3/4 cup of almond milk down to 1/4 cup as needed for the recipe.  Remember to constantly stir while cooking the milk down.

* The recipe I got was for 2 pies and it calls for 3 eggs, that's why it seems odd to have 1 & 1/2 eggs there.  I just used 2 eggs myself.

Wrap the sweet potato in paper towel and cook it in microwave until it's tender all throughout, about 7 to 8 minutes, depending the size of the sweet potato.  Scrape the meat off the skin and mash it in a big bowl.  Add butter, sugar and salt, mix well.  Mix the eggs and vanilla extract in a separate bowl well, then add the mixture to the potato bowl.  Slowly add milk the last and mix all into a pudding like consistency.  It should be thinner than mashed potatoes.  Pour it into unbaked pie shell.  Place in 300 F oven and bake approximately 1 hour.  The pie should be lightly brown and set.  Luckily, I had enough filling to fill up the small pie too.  So, voila, there is one big and one small.

Well, the whole pie turned out to be very delicious.  And everyone enjoyed the pie, including my brother-in-law, who misses eating pies!

Potato Zucchini Flat Cakes

Lunch time is closing in on Easter Sunday.  I wanted to use the zucchini on hand, but I'm kind of tired of the usual stir fry or stuffed zucchini.  I could make zucchini fries, but then I had to have something to go with it.  Hmm...wonder what the good old internet has advice for me....As I was typing "zucchini" in the search bar, a picture titled "zucchini cakes" in the search result caught my eye.  Yes!  I shall make that; but of course, my own version.

1 medium Rusett potato
1 large zucchini, shredded

What they look like when uncooked.

3 stalks of green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup of meatless crumbles, heated through
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dry basil
1 egg
Garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons milk (unsweetened almond milk)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil

Half of the batch, nice and golden.

Cut the two end of the zucchini off and shred it in a big bowl, mix in a little salt.  While waiting for the juice to come out, wrap the potato in a moist paper towel and cook it in the microwave till well done.  Peel the skin off and mash the potato well.  Mix all the ingredients except for milk, soy sauce, zucchini and cheese.

A couple bunny shaped patties for my kids, well, they were meant to be bunnies.

Drain the juice out off the zucchini, mix in with the mashed potato mixture; then put milk and soy sauce in, the cheese last; mix all the ingredients well.

Heat a large skillet with olive oil in, shape the potato zucchini mixture in patties, plop them in to cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes each side.  Make about 11 patties (around 2&1/2" to 3 " in diameter).  It might be tricky to flip the patties since the potato is very fine and easy to crumble apart.

It tasted savory, yet mild, quite yummy, perfect for lunch.  Four of us cleaned up the whole batch, no leftovers!

Pineapple Fried Rice

Recently when dinner time draws near, I've had a hard time to come up with an exciting meal idea. Yesterday afternoon after I went back and forth a couple times with my family on what was for dinner, fried rice was finally decided. It was almost 6 o'clock, so I removed myself from the couch and set to start dinner. Good thing I have instant brown rice in the fridge to cut down the cooking time.

1/2 cup unprepared instant brown rice

This is probably one serving worth.

Olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/3 cup chopped onions
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup roasted lightly salted cashews
2/3 cup diced red bell pepper
2/3 cup diced yellow bell pepper
12 pineapple chunks
2 tablespoons raisins
Tamari sauce or salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the instant brown rice in the microwave according to the package instructions. At the same time, chop the other ingredients and beat the eggs. Heat a large skillet or wok with olive oil in, put garlic, onions, carrots and white parts of the green onion in until the onions are translucent. Then put the green parts of the green onions and cilantro in. I don't like the green parts of the vegetables get overcooked. Dump the rice then stir in the eggs. Season with either Tamari sauce or salt and pepper to your taste. I put about 1 heaping tablespoon of Tamari sauce. When the eggs set in, add the cashews, bell peppers, pineapple pieces and the raisins. Mix everything well to serve.

Some fresh basil would be an excellent ingredient for this too. But I didn't have it on hand, so I used cilantro instead.

I used Uncle Ben instant brown rice. I like the texture of it, not as chewy like the regular brown rice, or as mushy like the instant white rice. I just bought some store brand kind but haven't tried it yet. We shall see how it'll turn out when I try it next. Don't forget to store the brown rice in the fridge after the package is opened.

Bon Appetit!