Brussels Sprouts Etc.

I don't like to brag.  And I certainly don't consider myself a boastful person.  I turn up my nose at people who think they are all that and a bag of chips.  But, I can't help but say that my dad and I made an AMAZING out-of-this-world dinner last night.  To say anything less would be straying from the truth.  It all started with the brussels sprouts.  You could say that I have a bit of an obsession.  There was honestly a time when my mother said: "Anne, I don't want to hear another word about brussels sprouts!"  It started last fall when I tried them for the first time.  I prepared them simply, halving them and sauteeing them in a moderate amount of butter and seasoning them with salt and pepper.  Then, a time or two later, they wound up being sprinkled with a bit of left over shredded parmesan cheese.  Yum!  Then I saw them featured in a magazine with all sorts of other stuff in the pan, which led me to make them with carmelized onions, toasted pecans, dried cranberries AND parmesan cheese.  Holy cow!  Every way I made them, I loved them more.  If you've never had the pleasure of eating a brussels sprout, I would describe them as a cross between cabbage and broccoli, both in flavor and appearance.  And wouldn't you know, they are all cruciferous vegetables, so I'm not off my rocker in that assesment!  Last night, I was somehow inspired to make the best sprouts I've ever dished up: with bacon, toasted walnuts and shredded parmesan.  Talk about a flavor explosion.  And this was just one third of the meal.  The rest of the plate was occupied by a perfectly grilled (venison) steak and expertly seasoned oven fries.  A meal fit for a queen, if you ask me.  Especially when followed with a slice of decadent flourless chocolate cake!  (Can that be our secret?)  I refused to count yesterday's calories.  There is no way I would undermine food bliss with that kind of regret.

Brussels Sprouts a la Anne

Ingredients

1 lb. brussels sprouts, rinsed and halved
3 strips of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Begin by frying the bacon in a large pan or skillet.  When it is done to moderate crispness, remove it from the pan and set aside.  Dispose of most of the bacon grease, leaving a thin coating in the pan.  Then, add the sprouts to the pan, flat side down and cook over medium heat, rearranging regulary with a spatula to prevent burning.  When the sprouts are golden brown, add the walnuts to the pan and cook for an additional minute or two, allowing them to become toasted.  Turn off the heat and add the bacon back to the pan, stirring the mixture so that the bacon and nuts are evenly dispersed.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Plate the sprouts and top with the parmesan cheese.  Serves 2-4, depending on the level of sprout obsession!

Succulent Sprouts, flanked by steak and oven fries

Happy New Year! (Lasagna)

It's the beginning of the new year, which means it's time for resolutions.  I for one have resolved to do more than one blog post per month.  It's just not fair to regular readers.  I had every intention of squeezing in a second December post but, alas, the craziness of the holiday season got the better of me.  So, I will save that post for another day.

While driving home from a family holiday celebration with my sister yesterday, I was overcome with a craving for lasagna.  Since my Celiac diagnosis, I've had one special friend prepare a gluten free version of her legendary lasagna, so I wanted to give it a try myself.  Believe it or not, lasagna is something I've never made before, g-free or otherwise, so I decided to take a shot at it while my motivation was strong.  After getting back in town, I dropped off my sister then headed right to the grocery store.  After getting home, I immediately put a pot of water on the stove in preparation for my noodles.  About an hour later, I took a lovely, bubbling, golden brown lasagna out of the oven.  I ate two servings, no sweat.  (I DID keep driving through lunch...)  You may find that without gluten, your lasagna noodles break into pieces after having been cooked, so handle them with as much care as possible.  If they break, just piece them together in the baking dish, it will still taste wonderful.  :)

Ingredients
1 (8 oz.) package gluten free lasagna noodles
1 (1 lb. 10 oz.) jar your favorite pasta sauce
1 lb. ground chuck
8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
8-9 oz. bag of fresh spinach
15 oz part skim ricotta
1/2 cup sliced fresh basil
8 oz shredded mozzarella

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and begin by cooking the lasagna noodles according to package instructions.  (Probably 6-8 minutes)  Meanwhile, sautee mushrooms in a little butter over low-medium heat until golden brown, then add the spinach, continuing to cook until just wilted.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.  Next, add beef to pan, cooking over medium heat until browned, then add pasta sauce and cook until heated through.  When the noodles are cooked and drained, place one layer of noodles in the bottom of a 13 x 9 glass baking dish.  Next, layer on the mushrooms and spinach followed by half the sauce and meat mixture.  Then drop on the ricotta a spoonful at a time, covering the sauce layer evenly.  Then comes the second layer of noodles, the sliced basil, and the remainder of the sauce and meat mixture.  It's all topped off by the shredded mozzarella.  Place in the oven and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  If the cheese begins to brown too soon, cover the lasagna with aluminum foil.  Let cool 5-10 minutes prior to serving.  Serves 8-10.

Tinga

The weeks I spent studying abroad in Cueranvaca, Mexico during the winter of my senior year in college were some of the best of my life.  Cuernavaca is known as the land of 'eternal spring' for it's appealing climate all year round.  Located in the tiny state of Morelos, just south / east of the federal district, Cuernavaca bursts with friendly people, places to explore and flavors that exemplify the cuisine of Mexico.  During my stay there I ate in a first class restaurant, patronized street vendors and churro carts (pre-celiac diagnosis) and was spoiled daily by my host mother's cooking.  She was suprised by my affinity for the guyaba, a small, fleshy and seedy fruit which is eaten whole, and she quickly caught on to my and my roommate Amy's love of anything avocado.  Among the amazing homemade tacos dorados, enchiladas verdes and quesadillas oozing gooey Oaxaca cheese was one obvious standout: Tinga.  Tinga, as I was introduced to it, is a mouthwatering preparation of shredded chicken simmered in a sauce of tomato, chipotle and garlic along with sauteed pieces of thinly sliced onions.  Our host mom and a relative showed us how put together our meal.  Start with a corn tostada, then spread it with a thin layer of refried black beans and top with shredded lettuce.  Next comes a generous portion of Tinga!  Top it all off with some crumbled queso seco, guacamole and crema and you're ready to go.  This might just be one of the messiest, most delicious things I've ever had the opportunity to eat.  And thanks to an assignment from a teacher, I sat down with my mama to copy the recipe as she dictated, and now get to share it with all of you!

Tinga

Ingrdients

3 chicken breasts, boneless or otherwise
3 small onions
1 can chipotles in adobo sauce (Read the ingredients!  Some include wheat starch.  San Marcos brand is safe)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes
3-6 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Directions

Either bake or sautee chicken until mostly cooked through.  I like to bake it, especially if it's on the bone.  While your chicken is cooking, you can prepare the rest of the Tinga.  Peel and mince your garlic, then add it to a large skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Sautee briefly over low-medium heat, then transfer to blender.  You won't need all the chipotles (!), just 3-5 depending on your heat tolerance.  Remove them from the can and rinse the adobo sauce off them, then add them to the blender, along with the tomatoes.  Puree them until you've acheived a pretty smooth consistency.  Next, thinly slice your onions into half-rounds and add them to your skillet with another tablespoon of olive oil.  Cook over medium heat until they start to soften, then remove from heat.  When the chicken is still slightly pink on the inside, you can go ahead and shred it.  (Just make sure you take the proper steps to prevent food-borne illness!)  Add the chicken and sauce to the skillet of onions and simmer, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.  For maximum flavor saturation, add 1/3-1/2 cup water to the skillet and continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened back up.  Serve with tostadas, refried black beans, lettuce, shredded cheese, guacamole and sour cream.  Oh, and lots of napkins!  I've also been meaning to try this over polenta instead of on a tostada, so I'll have to let you know how that goes.  From Irene's table to yours, Buen Provecho!
Serves 4-6 +leftovers.

The delicious final product, with a side of avocado salad

Off Limits!

Unfortunately, I haven't been doing a ton of cooking lately, but I didn't want to totally neglect the blog.  So, today I am writing about something I encounter on a fairly regular basis: foods I SHOULD be able to eat, except for cross-contaminants.  Sound familiar?  A lot of times I feel pretty frustrated when I approve an ingredient list, only to read further and find out that the produce was manufactured in a shared facility/on shared equipment with wheat.  Why does this have to happen?  After some deep thought, I've come up with an answer: to stop me from eating junk.  Most of the foods that present this problem are things I probably shouldn't eat anyway, like potato chips.  My initial frustration ends up transforming into relief, because there is a more concrete reason I shouldn't eat the chips (besides obvious nutritional ones).  In retrospect, I almost wish this happened more often!  But, then I eventually submit to the cravings and buy the potato chips that I CAN eat.  :)  Oh well, at least I will battle myself internally for a bit longer first...  But I will always be vigilant about checking lables.

Polenta

Polenta is Italian style corn grits.  I'm not sure I've ever eaten what might be referred to as American style grits, but I'm not sure I need to, given my love of polenta.  You can buy dry polenta mix and prepare it similarly to standard grits, or you can get it in a 'roll' that resembles a salami.  (In shape only, not color)  Most prepared polenta should be gluten free, as the ingredients are corn meal and water, but I would recommend checking the label just in case.  You can serve pre-prepared polenta in many ways: sliced and fried and served with maple syrup, topped with a variety of things, and especially as a substitute for pasta in many Italian dishes.  In short, polenta is extremely versatile.  My favorite way so far to serve it is an Italian influenced dish of my own creation.  I whipped up one day, full of anticipation, and to my delight, it was even better than I had hoped.  I've only served it to a few people, but they were all amazed, and claimed it was restaurant quality.  Cook it for someone you want to wow!

Polenta with Sausage, Marinara and Basil

1 Roll of Polenta
1 Jar of your favorite marinara
4 Chicken sausages
4 Tbsp sliced fresh basil
4 Tbsp mazcarpone cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil

Slice the polenta into eight rounds., Heat a large pan on the stove over low-medium heat and add the olive oil.  Coat the pan thoroughly with the oil, then add the sliced polenta.  Cook for about six minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.  Careful, the oil might spatter a little.  After starting the polenta on the stove, slice the the sausages into 1/2 inch rounds and add to another pan.  Cook these on the stove top for about five minutes on each side, or until nicely browned.  Meanwhile, go ahead and slice up your fresh basil.  Once the sausages are browned, add the marinara to the pan and cook until heated through.  When the polenta and sausage/sauce are done, you are ready to plate.  Arrange two slices of polenta on each plate and top with equal portions of the sausage/sauce.  Then top with the sliced basil and a dollop of mazcarpone cheese.  Then serve and savor!

Serves 4

Bob's Red Mill

Today's post is a shout-out to Bob's Red Mill.  Bob's makes a wide variety of grain products, but I love them for their extensive line of gluten-free offererings.  I start almost every morning with Bob's Gluten-Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal, which is a blend of whole grain brown rice, corn, sorghum and buckwheat.  These grains make MTHC a great nutritious choice, especially in the fiber department, which Celiacs naturally tend to struggle with.  The instructions tell you to make this on the stove-top, but I cheat and cook mine in the microwave, which takes less than two minutes.  Watch it though, or you might have a cereal explosion on your hands.  I jazz mine up with some dried fruit, coconut flakes and chopped pecans.  YUM!  When I'm not having that (or g-free toaster waffles) I reach for Bob's certified gluten-free rolled oats, which are grown in dedicated oats-only fields and kept segregated throughout the entire field-to-store process.  Apparently, some Celiacs can't tolerate oats, even if they are gluten-free, so it wouldn't hurt to excercize some caution when giving these a try.

I can't talk about Bob's without lauding their gluten-free cornbread mix.  Even though it's CORNbread, when made traditionally it does contain wheat flour in addition to the cornmeal.  Bob's replaces this with a blend of corn flour, sorghum and potato starch.  Replace away!  This cornbread is SO delicious.  I prepared it for the first time to serve to some dinner guests as a side to the soup I had made.  After finishing our meal, the table was cleared except for the pan of cornbread.  We nibbled on that cornbread until it was completely gone!  Not only is it totally impossible to notice the lack of gluten in this bread, but I would be hard pressed to find a better, tastier cornbread.  If you are looking for something to serve that will please both gluten-free and gluten eating guests, I highly recommend this mix.

http://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free/

Check out this website, as well as your grocer's shelves for these and other Bob's Red Mill Products.

(Birthday) Cupcakes

Saturday was my first gluten-free birthday, and with a little creativity, I wasn't missing anything!  Seeing as cupcakes are experiencing some sort of revival, I decided to make some.  If you've ever tried g-free baking, you know what a pain it can be.  Baking is much more a science than cooking, and there is a lot that can happen in the 30 minutes your experiment is in the oven, even with regular baking.  Because I don't like to be restricted to just g-free recipes, I have modified regular recipes on several occasions.  My lemon-poppyseed layer cake was quite delicious, but it was time consuming to sift together my own flour blend.  (I refused to use a pre-blended flour.)  By the time my sister and I finished the cake, we had clocked about 3 hours, and after the layers had cooled, they proceeded to sink like a bad soufflé.  Along with my mother, we determined that there must be some tinkering needed with our leavening agents.  We used Xanthan gum, but thought that perhaps more baking powder and soda were necessary.  I have yet to attempt that cake again, but I am searching for some information online that will tell me how to modify recipes to gluten-free.  Since that time consuming flop, I've been a little lazy, but with good results.  The birthday cupcakes are a prime example.  You simply make some additions to g-free boxed cake mix.  I managed to crank out three varieties of cupcakes: Mexican chocolate with chocolate buttercream, coconut with salted caramel buttercream, and orange with citrus buttercream.  Mmmmm!  The coconut were my absolute favorite, and the homemade frosting certainly didn't hurt.

For the Mexican chocolate cupcakes you start with a chocolate cake mix, then add about a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the batter, but start with less if you're sensitive to spice.  The cayenne brings a pleasant heat.  Then, you simply frost them with the chocolate buttercream, which calls for 1 stick butter, 1/4 cup confectioners sugar, 3 packets chocobake and 3 tablespoons cream.  Whip all the ingredients together with an electric mixer and you've got a delectable, and easy, frosting!

For the orange cupcakes, you begin with a yellow cake mix.  Make them according to instruction, EXCEPT, you substitute fresh-squeezed orange juice for the water, and you add the zest of one orange.  These get frosted with the frosting recipe at this link: http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/almost-homemade-buttercream-clv I just substitute orange juice for the lemon juice, add the zest of a second orange, and use less sugar.  Also, this make a VERY generous amount of frosting, and unless you're making a layer cake, you can get by on half a batch.

For the coconut cupcakes, you also use a yellow cake mix.  Prepare them according to directions, then add a teaspoon of almond extract and about 1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut.  The frosting is this recipe: http://www.chow.com/recipes/12100-salted-caramel-frosting and gets followed to the letter.  This frosting will be gracing many of my future baking endeavors!

Everyone at my party loved the cupcakes, and we didn't talk about gluten-free at all.  ;)  That can be our little secret.  These pseudo-recipes can easily be used with regular cake mixes as well.  Hope you like them!