Kañiwa Chocolate Chip Blondies

This is the perfect afternoon snack to go with a cup of coffee, tea or a cold glass of milk. This blondie is perfectly sweetened with the flavors of caramel and warm nuttiness from the Kañiwa. The Peruvian Kañiwa flour works best with rice and corn flours, so it is ideal for Gluten Free baking. The added bonus is that this treat is good for you because it has 5 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber from the Kañiwa. Enjoy with your family and friends and be ready for them to ask for more!

Dry Ingredients

½ cup white rice flour
¼ cup sweet rice flour
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup Zócalo Kañiwa flour

¾ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp Matiz flor de sal sea salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Wet Ingredients

2 large eggs, room temp
½ cup butter, room temp or non-dairy palm shortening
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1 Tbs coconut milk or buttermilk

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 square pan with butter or non-dairy palm shortening.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Use a whisk to break up any clumps.
Mix all of the wet ingredients in a medium bowl, using a hand mixer.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well using the hand mixer.
Pour the batter into a greased 9x9 inch square pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn and bake for another 15 minutes for a total of 30 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Let cool on a baking rack for 5 minutes before serving. Cut squares and serve. Store any leftovers, if there are any, in a container with a tight fitting lid or sealed bag.

Recipe created by Lisa Garza, Gluten Free Foodies

Aji Amarillo Grilled Shrimp with Garlic and Lime Sauce

So easy ... and so good!
Tan fácil y tan bueno!

I just had to make this today! I really wanted the taste of summer or of far away places.  No time for travels and who knows what the weather is going to do today? 

No worries because this was grilled inside on a grill pan on my stove.  I used the flavors of Peru - dried Aji Amarillo.

Grilled Aji Amarillo Shrimp with Garlic and Lime Sauce 

serves 2 people

Marinade
1 Tbs. Zócalo Aji Amarillo

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup Spanish Olive oil

1 lb of shrimp or prawns

Ingredients to add to the marinade to cook the shrimp.

1 lime, juiced

1 - 2 Tbs. coconut oil

Rinse, clean and de-vein the shrimp or prawn, keeping the tail on for flavor.

Put the shrimp into a large freezer sealing bag with the dried Zócalo Aji Amarillo , chopped garlic and Spanish olive oil.  Put into the refrigerator for at least one hour to marinate.  

Take out the bag of marinated shrimp out and squeeze the fresh lime juice into the bag and mix well.
Heat your grill pan to medium high on your stove and add the coconut oil to the pan. 

When the pan is hot, carefully add the shrimp, using tongs.  Place as many shrimp on the pan as can fit without crowding the pan too much.  As soon as you see the underside turn pink, turn the shrimp over using the tongs.  When the shrimp turns completely pink take off of the grill. Add the remainder of the shrimp and grill completely.  The approximate time to cook the shrimp is 1-3 minutes.
Keep the shrimp warm in another pan to the side of the stove and put a cover on it.  Pour the marinade into the grill pan and cook it down, approximately 1-2 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the shrimp and serve warm. 

Serve the Grilled Aji Amarillo Shrimp with Garlic and Lime Sauce on top of brown rice, and a salad or your favorite vegetables.
Enjoy!
Disfrutar!

Celiac Awareness Month - Featured Blogger

May is Celiac Awareness month and the NFCA - National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, has A Blogger A Day campaign to spread the word! It turns out that Lisa Garza, who writes the Gluten Free Foodies blog and also creates recipes using her favorite Zócalo Gourmet products for posting on our blog is one of the featured bloggers.

Check out the feature on Lisa at NFCA - A Blogger A Day

What are you doing to help spread the word for Celiac Awareness?

Zócalo Gourmet would like to share your recipes and pictures like Lisa's using your favorite Zócalo Gourmet products.  Send it to us at info@zocalogourmet.com so that we can share it on our blog with others that are living the Gluten Free lifestyle too.

Bravo Lisa and the NFCA!

Kañiwa Banana Cupcakes with Sour Orange Frosting

Guest Blogger recipe by Charles Luce,  My Celia Gluten Free Blog

Charles is from Weehawken, New Jersey.  He is an avid photographer, retired photography teacher, Gluten Free bread baker and forager of mushrooms.  

These little tan cupcakes look heavy, but surprise the mouth with lightness and subtlety. The recipe could be used to make standard sized cupcakes but the mini version is somehow the perfect mouthful. Warning: it’s hard to stop eating them!

Makes 24 mini-cupcakes
Ingredients for the cakes:

1/2 cup Zócalo Kañiwa flour
6 TBLS granulated sugar
2 TBLS buckwheat flour (preferable coarse, stone ground – see note)
1/4 cup water

1/4 cup mashed, very ripe banana (see note)

2 TBLS unsalted butter

2 TBLS sour cream

1 egg, separated

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp almond extract

Ingredients for the frosting:
1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened to 60 F and cut into pieces
1 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 TBLS heavy cream
1 TBLS juice from sour oranges (available in many Latin American markets)
1 1/2 tsp orange extract or essential oil
1 tsp orange zest
1/8 tsp salt

Notes: if you cannot get coarse buckwheat flour, place 1/2 cup of buckwheat groats in a food processor and process on high speed for about 1 minute. The resulting meal will have many levels of coarseness, which add to the mouth-feel of the baked goods.

If you don’t have any over-ripe bananas, place a fresh one in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes. The peel will become black and ugly but the fruit will be sticky and perfectly sweet.

Instructions for the cakes:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 24-unit mini cupcake tray with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl, blend the flours, the sugar, the soda, powder and salt.
Put the water in a microwave-proof bowl or cup. Place the butter in the water and microwave on high for approximately 45 seconds, or until the butter is mostly melted. Swirl the water to finish melting the butter. Stir the banana in with the water and blend well.

In a medium bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry.

In a small bowl, mix egg yolks, almond extract and heavy cream.

Add butter/banana mix to dry ingredients and blend. Add yolk/cream mix and blend well. Gently fold in egg whites.

Using a scoop or large spoon, ladle batter into papers, dividing evenly.

Bake for 18 – 22 min, turning pan 180 degrees halfway through. Cakes are done when an inserted toothpick comes out with just a crumb or two attached.

Place on a cooling rack and allow the cupcakes to cool to room temperature before frosting.

Instructions for the frosting:
Place the butter, cream, orange extract, salt, orange juice and orange zest in a medium bowl. Use an electric mixer with the whip attachment and at medium-high setting, blend about 1 – 2 minutes, until mixture is smooth.

Reduce mixer speed to medium low and slowly add the sugar. Run mixer until sugar is well incorporated and frosting is smooth – about 2 minutes.

Increase speed to high and whip frosting until it is fluffy approximately 5 – 10 minutes.

Pipe onto muffins, dividing evenly.

NOTE: there will be enough frosting for another 24 mini-cakes. Store the piping bag in your refrigerator, then bring it out and let it reach room temperature to frost the next batch.