Aunt Leora's Coconut Pie!

Leora was an amazing lady. She was one of my dad's two younger sisters and mom to six of my cousins. She was my godmother and I loved her dearly. Leora was named after my Grandmother Leora and in all these years I've only met one other woman with the same name. One fun fact about my dad's sisters is that Leora and her sister Pat both married men who shared the same first and middle names with my dad. Leora shared a birthday with my brother Bobby and since it's coming up next week she's been on my mind.

Aunt Leora, Uncle Tom, Grandma Lee, Dad & Aunt Pat

About thirty years ago a friend and I put together a cookbook full of recipes from our families and friends. I love looking through it all these years later - we all eat so differently now. When I pulled it out recently and looked for her recipes I came across this Coconut Pie. I can't recall ever seeing this on the table all those years ago but coconut wasn't one of my favorites back then and I might have not noticed.

The original recipe called for milk, butter and regular flour. I believe the coconut Leora would have used would have been sweetened flakes but I used unsweetened. I knew a touch of coconut flour would sub for the regular flour easily and decided to ditch the dairy and use coconut milk and coconut oil.

I can see why this recipe appealed to Leora, as busy as she was, because it is as delicious as it is easy. Leora's pie didn't call for a garnish but since I had coconut flakes and mini chocolate chips nearby I sprinkled some on just because. My pie took much longer to bake than Leora's recipe - no doubt due to the subs.

Version 1.0 - the breakfast edition.

We had the same friends for dinner twice this week and we shared version 1.0 and 2.0 with them. I have to say the presentation of 1.0 wasn't very special looking. The soft custard was still warm and the slices were really more like spoonfuls. A yummy crust had formed on the top due to the coconut and chocolate chips I'd added. It was much like a creme brule topping. We all really loved the texture and the taste. I chilled what was leftover and "tested" it for breakfast. Amazing but still soft for pie.

Version 2.0 made us all happy. It plated up much better. The texture was better and the taste was a exactly the same. This time only one slice remained and it, too, was delicious the next day. I can't really decide whether I prefer it served warm or cold - both are yummy and completely addictive.

This is definitely going in the dessert rotation. It is sweeter than I am used to so I'll probably cut the sugar next time I bake it. It would be an easy, wonderful treat to make for Easter.

Leora's Coconut Pie
Grease pie plate with coconut oil, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add all ingredients below in blender container:

1 can Light Coconut Milk, I used Trader Joe's
4 large Eggs
1 cup Coconut, unsweetened shredded
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 cup Coconut Oil
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
Dash of salt

Blend until well combined. Pour into prepared pan and garnish, if desired, with additional coconut and mini chocolate chips. I used Enjoy Life which are dairy free.

Bake for approximately one hour. Insert a sharp knife in the center, if it comes out clean the pie is done. Cool or chill before serving.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free at Mediterranean Deli in Chapel Hill

Marc and Marie had gone to Mediterranean Deli several weeks ago and raved about it - especially the fact that they serve gluten free pita bread. Life got busy and I forgot. Then sweet Megan, a fellow gf'er went not long ago with her boyfriend and Instagramed an amazing looking plate. I kind of forgot again. Finally, super talented photographer Carolyn asked her Facebook friends about gluten free restaurants in Durham and Chapel Hill so I Googled it to get the menu for her yesterday. After reading the menu and I asked Chris if he wanted to go for a late lunch today and he graciously complied.

Mediterranean Deli is a large, sunny and casual restaurant that was packed when Chris and I stopped in late this afternoon. As you walk in and see a long case full of salads and goodies, grab a menu so you can order at the counter. Our friendly order taker helped us to pick our gluten free sides, we paid and took our number to our table. We also purchased a bag of gluten free pitas for us and for Marc and Marie. It took a few minutes before our plates came but oh was it worth the wait.

We both had ordered Kebabs - lamb for Chris and chicken for me. The kebab plates came with rice, pita and two sides. Chris had gluten free tabouli and a beet salad and enjoyed both. He loved the lamb kebab. It was served over a bed of yellow basmati rice which we were assured was naturally colored with saffron and spices. It was delicious. The grilled jalapeno and tomato were a nice touch. The yogurt came in very handy to temper the fire of said jalapeno.

My chicken kebab was perfect - tender and spiced just right. The avocado salad had red onion, tomato and feta. Mediterranean guacamole if you ask me. Totally addictive. The beet salad was so good. I don't know about you but I always assumed I would hate beets. Never tried one until I was 50 and then it was love at first bite! Can't get enough of them these days. I savored this meal and ate it so slowly - pacing my pita and devouring every bite. It was such a treat.

The restaurant was busy the entire time we were there. The catering van pulled up, was filled and left again just filled to the brim with trays of goodies. At least two people left with large party trays. This is obviously not a well hidden secret and I just can't believe it took so long for us to find it.

Gluten Free Organic Pita Bread. <----- Click on that link! You can order their organic gluten free pita bread and have it delivered to you. Honestly, it will be a long time before I order because we need to go back and try so many other things on the menu and I can just pick up a few bags again. But just knowing I can order it any time just makes me smile.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

It's a. . . .

I'm so excited to share Marc and Marie's wonderful news.

Thanks to Gabby for taking all the pics of the happy day!

Pi Day - Creamy Chocolate Filled Coconut Whoopie Pies

I love Pi Day - although Joe appreciates the math side of this "holiday" I much prefer the baking side. These whoopie pies are similar to last Pi Day's recipe in that they are coconut flour based. The cake is vanilla with shredded coconut and the filling is a delicious light and creamy chocolate sweetened with dates. 

Yes, I am very aware that my whoopie pies look much more like hamburgers than dainty, delicious desserts. They admittedly could have been a little thinner but no one complained.

This filling is amazing. It's a total knock off of a delicious chocolate mousse from Vegan-Magic that's been floating around Pinterest. Vegan-Magic is a new site to me and I've been enjoying looking at all of the wonderful recipes Adriana has posted. Please check it out.

Creamy Chocolate Filled Coconut Whoopie Pies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees - grease pan with coconut oil.

Made seven for me but next time I'd probably aim for eight.

The Cakes:

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted & cooled a bit
2/3 cup organic cane sugar

1/2 cup water

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients and beat on low until well combined. Turn mixer to medium and give it at least three or four minutes.  

I filled fourteen wells on my pans, you might aim for sixteen for a less hamburger appearance.  Bake about 15 - 20 minutes until they are set in the center. Cool a few minutes before removing from pan and cooling on a rack or plate.

While your cakes are baking make the filling:

Creamy Chocolate Filling:

1 cup Coconut Cream (See Note)

1/2 cup (8) Organic Medjool Dates, roughly chopped

3 Tablespoons Cocoa

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until creamy and well mixed. There will be flecks of dates in the chocolate cream. That's deliciously okay. There will be plenty to fill the pies even if you make an extra one or two.

Note: The coconut cream I used today was from canned, full fat coconut milk. Refrigerate the can overnight and use the hardened, white layer on top. Reserve remaining coconut milk in a glass or plastic container, covered, in your fridge.

Divide filling and spread over half of the cakes, top with another cake and enjoy!

Gluten Free Raleigh - bu ku Global Street Food

Cambodia Roll

Saturday afternoon Chris and I had a date lunch at bu ku Raleigh, a really beautiful restaurant in downtown Raleigh. There's a large patio that would be a perfect spot to sit on a much warmer day than when we visited. While a very elegant restaurant it's also really comfortable.

The wonderful thing about bu ku is they cover so many cuisines that there is really something for everyone and the small plates are meant to be shared. Perfect for spending time together and catching up. What really impressed us was that despite the variety, each dish was true to its heritage. Nothing is dumbed down or homogenized - everything is fresh and full of flavor. Check out their video on their home page to see what I mean.

Their gluten free menu is really large and varied. We chose some small dishes to share and split dessert. It was hard to narrow down our choices to just a few. We decided to really vary our choices rather than sticking to one cuisine.

We started with the Cambodia Roll which is a rice paper summer roll full of shrimp, avocado, carrot, cucumber and lots of spinach and just a bit of fresh herbs. There was a nice creamy peanut sauce to dip. It was a perfect blend of flavors - more spinach that I would have thought could have worked in a summer roll - but it was perfect. It left me wanting to order another that I didn't have to share.

Aloo Chana Chaat

But the Aloo Chana Chaat and Empanadas were being served and I was easily distracted.

The Aloo Chana Chaat is an Indian dish with a twist. A crispy and spicy potato cake is topped with chickpeas, cucumber, cabbage, raita, tamarind and cilantro chutney. The mix of textures and components that ranged from crispy to creamy, very hot to cool was amazing. There was a bit of a fork war over that one, I will admit to that.

Empanadas

The Empanadas were really a treat as I haven't had one in a decade. These were filled with chipotle braised chicken and topped with guacamole, tomato and queso fresco. The crispy thin crust was to die for. The spicy but not too hot shredded chicken was so good - luckily there were two and we didn't have to battle.

While we were enjoying these last two treats we decided to really indulge and order one more item and chose the Massaman Hot Pot. A yellow coconut curry full of cinnamon and spice but not hot - just flavorful - and full of veggies. There was enough of this warming curry soup for at least two bowls for each of us.

Massaman Hot Pot

Not that we needed dessert after all those wonderful dishes, but we were easily talked into it. The only gluten free dessert the day we visited was the Trilogy of Creme Brulees. While Chris loves a good Creme Brulee but it's never been one of my favorite dishes. This dessert changed my mind.

As with everything we tried the presentation was beautiful. Each little pot was garnished with one berry to compliment its flavor. Between the pots were little slices of strawberry with tiny greens in a balsamic reduction. A nice treat between very sweet bites. The traditional vanilla was very good. The ginger was mild but with just enough ginger to give it a little delicious kick. The chocolate, however, was my favorite. A very grown up chocolate pudding flavor with a creme brulee texture. Perfect!

Our waiter, Alex was friendly, informative and professional and helped make our meal a really nice experience. I can't wait to go back.

Chocolate Chip Date Granola Cookie Bars

I made these bars yesterday for Joe to take to a youth event at a friend's house. Since there are now a few kids in the group who are also gluten free and others who are healthy eaters, I wanted to make something safe for the gf'ers and enjoyable for everyone else. The cookies turned out soft and chewy and seemed to be a hit.

My oatmeal date cookie recipe is fast and easy and very flexible. Omitting the sugar altogether and letting the dates and chocolate chips sweeten the batter worked well. Adding an extra egg, the extra almond butter and pecans upped the protein. 

Since yesterday was a busy morning I didn't have time or inclination to scoop dozens of cookies out and bake several sheets.  Instead I covered a large baking sheet with parchment, dumped the cookie dough on to it and used clean, wet hands to smooth the dough into one large rectangle about a half inch thick. They baked up beautifully and I was able to cut nearly sixty small bars with a pizza cutter in no time.

Breanna, this recipe is for you! 

For some reason Blogger has "bolded" the rest of this post. I guess I won't have to wear my reading glasses when I refer back to it! ;-)

Chocolate Chip Date Granola Cookie Bars
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover one large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the following a large mixing bowl:

12 Organic Medjool Dates, chopped

1 1/2 cups Natural Almond Butter

4 large Eggs

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

I used my Kitchen Aid and let it mix on medium a couple of minutes until the dates were breaking down and the batter looked creamy but with a few flecks of dates.

Then add:

4 cups GF Rolled Oats

1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 cup raw Pecan pieces

1 cup mini chocolate chips - I used Enjoy Life 


Mix everything together until well mixed. Your dough will be stiff and heavy.

Dump out the dough onto your baking sheet and, using clean, wet hands smooth the dough out into one large rectangle about one half inch thick.

Bake approximately 15 minutes and let cool a few minutes before cutting.  I used a pizza wheel to make cutting fast and easy. My bars were approximately one inch by two inches and I was able to get nearly 60.  

Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

They made a yummy breakfast today, too!

Enjoy!