Cookin' the night before

And so at 8PM on Wednesday it started. I don't know how hummus got on my list but it did, so I whipped some up. Along with mashed pumpkin/sweet potatoes, gluten free stuffing and a gluten free apple pie.

Allergy Free Hummus (aka, sesame-free)
1 can of garbanzos, drained and SAVE the juice
1 head of garlic, roasted
6 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes
6 kalamata olives
3 Tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste



This is where I stopped but it's a bit thick so I also recommend:
1-2 Tbs lemon juice
1/3 cup of saved garbanzo juice



Gluten Free Stuffing
Started making the stuffing by toasting bread crumbs. I used a loaf and a half of Ener-G Brown Rice Loaf from Whole Foods. It worked great.



Toasting away, left them in the oven overnight to really dry out.



Started making the Pumpkin/Sweet Potato mashed. I used the recipe from Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef who adapted it from Soul of a New Cuisine by Samuelssen.



Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Mash

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted fake butter
3 shallots, peeled and sliced (I'm such a crier)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
3-inch-piece ginger, peeled and sliced (didn't have this so I diced the ginger left over from sushi for lunch)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoons brown sugar
5 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed and fine chopped (ventured out to mom's garden to find it)
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
2-pound pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch cubes (ventured to Gramma's to pick up the fresh punkin but, it was already cooked and mashed)
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock) (organic, gluten free-I found that many stocks have msg and hydrolyzed gluten, gross)
2 cups milk (soy milk)
pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 chives, fine chopped (another venture to mom's garden)


Preparing to mash. In a deep pot on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, cinnamon sticks, brown sugar, thyme leaves, and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts, about 3 minutes. Throw in the sweet potatoes, pumpkin cubes, chicken stock, and milk of your choice. Bring them all to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook until the potatoes and pumpkin yield to your fork, about 30 minutes.




Making the mash. Drain the pumpkin and sweet potatoes, saving 1 cup of the liquid. So this part WOULD work if you use raw pumpkin. But I only had fresh mashed pumpkin. I couldn't waste it so I just put it in anyways and cheese-clothed-out the liquid. Throw away the ginger and cinnamon sticks. In a large bowl, mash the sweet potatoes and pumpkin. Pinch in the nutmeg and salt. Taste. At this point I found that my chopped onions and garlic were huge pieces so it all went in the food processor for some pureed mashed potatoes. Season more, if necessary. Splash in a bit of the cooking liquid and stir, for an even texture. Before serving, sprinkle with the chives. Serves 6 or more.





Felt mostly like a failure but, I worked with what I had. I just couldn't bring myself to not use the fresh pumpkin from Gramma's garden. They tasted great-nice and spicy-not sweet like the brown sugar yams.