Pecan Pie Bars

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Posted on August 27, 2011

I just realized I’m on a bit of a pecan kick today. First the haystacks and now these bars. Kind of funny actually because I didn’t like nuts growing up in my food at all. My Grandma always said “your tastes will change as you get older” and I guess she was right. Although, I seem to remember her telling me that when I would wrinkle my nose because she was making some kind of horrible smelling creamed fish for dinner. Luckily, my tastes haven’t elevated to that level.. But overall, she was right. My tastes have dramatically changed, especially over the past five or so years.

These pecan bars are perfect. Well, perfect in my eyes anyway. I never liked pecan pie growing up because I didn’t like all the filling. I preferred a little filling with a lot of crust. The original recipe for these bars came from Recipezaar and had gluten and dairy (of course). I tweaked it a lot to get it to my liking. Now it has the perfect amount of crust verses filling and comes in the form of a handy little bar and not a mushy pie with too much filling and not enough crust. These bars also freeze very well for use later. They are also quite tasty straight from the freezer. They don’t freeze completely solid so you can grab one whenever you like.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 9×11 baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

For the Crust:

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum

2 1/2 Cups Mama’s All Purpose Almond Flour

1 Cup Dairy Free Butter (I use Soy Free Earth Balance)

Place all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk. Add the butter and cut in. (I use my fingers and crumble the mixture through them until it is broken down into large pea size pieces.)

Pour mixture into the greased pan and pat down until it is firm and forms a crust. I use parchment or a plastic bag sprayed lightly with non-stick spray. You can also use your hands but when the butter warms it will stick and be very frustrating.

Bake crust in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes or until edges begin to lightly brown.

While the crust is baking, prepare the topping:

2 Large Eggs plus 1 Egg White

1 teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 Tablespoons Dairy Free Butter

3/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 Cup Dark Karo Syrup

1 1/4 Cups Pecan Halves, roughly chopped

Place all ingredients except the chopped pecans in a large bowl and whisk well until combined. Add nuts, whisk.

When the crust is done, remove from oven and pour pecan mixture over the hot crust.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

“Beer” In The Rear Chicken with Quinoa Veggie Pasta and Wine Sauce

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Posted on May 9, 2011

Grilling season is finally here, right? As I look out the window it’s raining (again) and 52 degrees. That’s a sad state affairs for the 7th of May where I live. The up side is that we have a covered deck, so we grill 12 months out of the year. But there is that certain “feel” you get on a warm spring day when you can grill, hear the birds tweeting away happily, and smell the neighbor’s fresh-cut lawns. Guess we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks before we can get the full spring effect.

If you haven’t ever grilled a whole chicken, you’re missing out. It’s incredibly easy! There are many ways to do it but tonight I decided on the “beer” in the rear style. I put beer in parenthesis because I don’t think we’ve had a beer in a can in probably 20 years (at least). Call me a snob, but I prefer good beer in an ice-cold bottle. I also prefer Coca Cola in its original form in an ice-cold bottle right out of an old-fashioned machine. Some things should just never be allowed to change. With that said, I use a soda can, dump the soda out, and fill it 3/4 of the way with spring water. You could probably also fill it with juice, beer, broth, and probably even wine. I’ve done both beer (pour soda out and fill with bottled beer) and water and I didn’t notice one bit of difference between the two. So why waste a good beer, right? I’d much rather drink it while I’m grilling.

And as luck would have it, now it’s raining and sunny all at the same time, and my son is mowing our lawn. Guess we will at least have that partial “spring grilling” feeling going on after all!

“Beer” In The Rear Chicken

1 Organic Whole Chicken

Olive Oil

Fresh Rosemary

Fresh Oregano

1 Fresh Lemon

1 Can, your choice (If it’s beer, keep the beer, if it’s soda pour it out and fill 3/4 with water)

Garlic Powder

Seasoning, your choice (I used Chicago steak seasoning)

Salt & Pepper

Clean the inside and outside of the chicken and pat dry. Place can in chicken grill roaster.

If you don’t have one of these you can just set it on your grill, but be careful and keep and eye on it, sometimes they tip over.

Stuff the cavity with the lemon, rosemary, and oregano.

Place on the grill at about 325-350 degrees and close lid.

Check every 15 minutes for flame ups. If it flames up on you too much, you can place a piece of tin foil under the bird and that will help.

Grill for about an hour or until the juices in the leg aren’t blood-red or to your desired temperature.

Quinoa Pasta with Veggies &Wine Sauce

1 Box Quinoa Garden Pagodas Pasta (8oz.)

About 1 Cup Asparagus Spears

1/2 Large Orange Bell Pepper, sliced

1/2 Small Zucchini, sliced

1/2 Small Yellow Squash, sliced

1/2 Large Onion, sliced

About 8 Crimini Mushrooms, sliced

About 1 1/2 Tbsp. Garlic, chopped

About 1 1/2 Tbsp. Oregano, chopped

Olive Oil

Sea Salt & Pepper To Taste

About 1/4 Cup Non-Dairy Butter

2 Ladles of Pasta Water

About 1 Cup White Wine (I used Chardonnay)

Boil pasta according to package directions, rinse, and set aside. Reserve 1 ladle of pasta water.

Prepare vegetables, garlic, and herbs.

Drizzle oil in a large skillet (preferably NOT a non-stick) and heat on medium to medium high. Add onions and mushrooms and saute until onions just begin to become translucent and mushrooms are slightly browned. Add asparagus spears.

Saute for 5 minutes and then add the peppers, sauteing for about 3 minutes.

Add the remaining vegetables, the herbs, and the garlic. Add a ladle of pasta water and saute until most of it is absorbed. Add the wine and scoot the vegetable mixture to the side, add the dairy-free butter. Allow to saute for about 3 minutes, tossing the veggies.

Add the pasta, warm through.

Season with sea salt and pepper to taste. I also served a simple spinach salad with the pasta and chicken. Baby spinach, 1 tomato chopped, vinaigrette of your choice. Toss.