The Whole Kitchen

Yoo-Hoo - Over here! On WordPress!

2010-01-26T21:20:00.003-06:00

Hey wonderful blog readers! If you didn't hear yet, I've moved the blog over to WordPress, so please update your bookmarks, RSS feeds and email subscriptions by clicking over to the new site. There will be graham crackers upon your arrival! And here's a little pic of these delicious crackers to help you find your way to the new site...

Check out the Whole Kitchen at its new home: thewholekitchen.wordpress.com

The Whole Kitchen is on the move!

2010-01-17T16:53:00.004-06:00

We're moving - join me in the Whole Kitchen on Wordpress!

Dear readers, I am sorry upset your internetting experience here, but it's time for a new blog for the new year!

Over a year after starting this adventure, I've come to love the creative outlet of sharing my recipes and I adore the conversations we've had in the comments, on Facebook and in real life. It really is a thrill when people tell me they're using my recipes! I started this site on Blogger because it was super simple to get started and I wasn't quite sure if I'd stick with this whole blogging thing, so simple seemed best.

I'm moving the blog over to Wordpress.com, because it's simply prettier over there. And I have more control over what the blog looks like, and I can get my geek on by editing the HTML templates to my heart's desire. I'll also have more flexibility to use bigger images to make your mouth water even more!

So if you're a RSS subscriber, or Google follower, update your subscription to the new site. See you over at the new site! Oh, and here's a little teaser of what's on deck first....

Visit The Whole Kitchen's New Home at thewholekitchen.wordpress.com!

Lamb Curry with Potatoes

2010-01-13T17:31:00.002-06:00

As cold as it is in Chicago in winter, there are some advantages to living in a place colder than a meat locker. One of my favorite sights is a winter sunrise on a shatteringly cold, clear morning. Sunday was just such a morning, and I raced out of bed and into my coat just in time to catch the last of the perfect golden sunrise. The sun shimmering on the wall of ice in front of our building was just stunning.

I think that our cold, gray winters are a gift to introverts like me. I don't mind winter all that much, even on the extremely cold days - I know how to stay warm (thanks to LL Bean), and there's a beauty to the snowy winter landscape - especially living on the Lake. The many moods of the Lake are beautiful to watch, and none more beautiful to me than when the ice rolls in from far out in the lake, and the water comes crashing up against the ice berm that forms on the beach. As the waves slap the ice, the water sprays high into the air and the sound of the crashing ice against waves is the best bedtime lullabye.

Without good weather and sunshine every day, I don't feel guilty for wanting to curl up with a good book and cup of tea to spend an afternoon on the couch. The social calendar slows down as the weather grows cold and allows me to recharge my social batteries...and sometimes that means spending a quiet morning making the perfect lamb curry.

This curry requires quite a few steps, but the final product is so worth it - this curry has the depth of flavor I've only tasted in Indian Restaurants. I learned from Sabera that the secret to a truly authentic curry is to make your own curry paste...and she's right. The time it takes to stir the spices, onions and tomatoes to develop the curry paste is what makes a flavorful gravy for the final dish. I tried to keep the calorie count under control by minimizing the amount of oil used, and eliminating the dairy in the recipe - it doesn't need it anyway. Give this curry a try next time you want to spend a morning meditating at the stove.

Lamb Curry with Potatoes
Serves 5

2 1/2 cups yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1" pieces
1 lb lamb stew, trimmed of most fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 onions - one grated (or blitzed in the food processor), one sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 T fresh grated ginger
2.5 T safflower oil, divided
1 14oz can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
4 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 jalepeno, seeded and sliced
kosher salt to taste
cilantro for garnish
serve over brown rice

In a mortar and pestle, combine the mustard seeds, cardamom and cumin. Bash the spices around a bit to create a coarse grind. Pick out the husks of the cardamom pods and set the spice mixture aside.
Preheat the broiler and set a sheet pan in the oven while it preheats. Peel and cube the potatoes into bite sized pieces. Place the potatoes in a small mixing bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon of safflower oil and a sprinkle of salt. When the broiler is preheated, remove the sheet pan from the oven and spray lightly with oil. Spread the potatoes onto the pan in one layer and broil for 6-7 minutes to par-cook the potatoes - they should not be cooked all the way through, just get a head start on cooking, and the quick roast will help them keep their shape instead of getting water-logged. After 6-7 minutes under the broiler, remove the potatoes and set aside. While the potatoes cook, sear the meat.
Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. While it's heating, sprinkle the cubed lamb with a bit of salt. Add 1 T of the safflower oil to the pot, and when it's shimmering, add about half of the meat to the pot in one layer - don't crowd the meat. Sear for 2 minutes without stirring, then turn the meat pieces and sear for 1 more minute on the other side. Remove the lamb from the pot and set aside in a bowl. Add the last half of the meat and sear on both sides, then set the meat aside.
Keep the pot on medium heat, and remaining tablespoon of oil and grated onion. Saute for 3-4 minutes, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan, and allowing the onions to turn golden and begin to caramelize. Next, add the tomato paste, jalepenos, garam masala, mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, black pepper and garlic. Stir for a minute until fragrant. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and stir. Allow the mixture to cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally - the mixture will cook down into a thick, flavorful paste.
After cooking the curry paste, add the chicken stock, sliced onion, lamb and potatoes. Stir to combine. Cover the pot and simmer on low for 30-45 minutes, until lamb and potatoes are tender. Season with salt as needed. Serve over brown rice and garnish with cilantro.

383 cal per 1 1/4 cup, 130 cal from fat, 14.8g fat, 90mg cholesterol, 400mg sodium, 780mg potassium, 31g carb, 3g fiber, 8g sugars, 31.3g protein

Italian Wedding Soup

2010-01-10T19:39:00.007-06:00

I had never made meatballs until today. Crazy, right?! Meatballs have never been very enticing to me - an odd fact, since I love sausage. The idea of the grocery store meatball with loads of crappy filler and little flavor is not my idea of cuisine. But, I'm learning to love the humble meatball. Mark's family made a special batch of their family's famed Swedish Meatballs for me at Christmas. I'd never even tried these particular meatballs because of the gluten in them, and never really felt like I was missing out. I was wrong. The meatballs were heaven, swimming in a savory gravy.

This week, while I was perusing my favorite food inspiration site, Tastespotting, I saw a couple of recipes for Italian Wedding Soup. I'd never heard of it before, but the recipes featured homemade meatballs swimming in broth. I was intrigued, so I gave it a shot this morning.

The meatballs on their own are well worth making and not that much trouble. I baked them, not having the patience to saute them in several batches, as I had other things to prep in the kitchen. I would definitely make the meatballs for pasta sauce another time. I didn't have gluten-free bread crumbs on hand (I rarely have GF bread around at all), so I threw a few Ener-G gluten free onion crackers in the mini-prep and whizzed them into submission - it worked perfectly for the meatballs. If you want to cut the calorie load a bit, you could certainly use all turkey sausage for the meatballs - I just happen to love pork. I also cut the finished meatballs into quarters, so that you'd get more bites of beautiful sausage in every bowl.

Once you've got the meatballs made, the rest of the soup is a snap, and follows the standard soup operating procedure - saute mire poix, add broth and spices, then simmer. The finished soup is amazing - hearty and spicy and a little like a hot and sour soup. The addition of the dill to the broth adds an almost sour note, but it really works in combination with the red pepper flakes.

Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 6

Meatballs:
2 links Hot Italian sausage, pork (about 8oz)
2 links Hot Italian sausage, turkey(about 8oz)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T parsley, minced
1/4 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (I used pulverized GF cracker crumbs)
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 325 with the convection setting on. If you don't have convection, set it to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove the casings from the sausages and place the meat in a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands until combined. Now, shape the meatballs. Use a scant tablespoon of meat for each meatball, and shape them into balls with your hands. Place the formed meatballs on the prepped sheet tray, about 2 inches apart from each other. When you've finished making the meatballs, bake them for 25 minutes, then remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes, then store in the fridge while you make the soup.

Soup:
1 onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
2 cups diced red potatoes, skin on
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups homemade chicken stock
1 T dried dill
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 T parsley, minced
1 bunch rainbow chard, washed, ribs removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Meatballs, sliced into quarters

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add 1 T olive oil, then saute the onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, 1/4 tsp salt and red pepper flakes for about 5-6 minutes, until the onion is translucent and softened. Add the dill, garlic and black pepper and stir for another minute, until you smell the garlic.
Add the chicken stock and potatoes and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, until the carrots and potatoes are tender. Taste the soup, and adjust the seasonings - adding more salt, pepper or red pepper flakes if it needs it.
Just before you're ready to serve, add the rainbow chard and parsley to the pot, stirring the greens in gently. Allow them to cook for 2 minutes, then add in the quartered meatballs. Cook for 2 more minutes, then dish up the soup.

341 cal/bowl, 160cal from fat, 17g fat, 85mg cholesterol, 1080mg sodium, 470mg potassium, 39g carbs, 3g fiber, 9g sugars, 20g protein

Pasta Milanese

2010-01-08T17:35:00.000-06:00

This dish literally took my entire family to create. When we were in Michigan, my mom gifted me with some pork from my cousin's pig. Heather and Rick raise a few pigs every year at their home. Come fall, the pigs are butchered and my cousins share some of the meat with our family. I'd heard that their pork was pretty amazing - their pigs are fed day-old produce from the farmers near where they live, so they eat everything from sweet corn to peaches. Not a bad diet for pigs or people!

I unwrapped the bacon my mom gave me, and knew that we would be rationing the precious slabs to get as many meals out of it as possible. The smell of smoke wafted from the chilled bacon - it's very lean, almost ham-like. For our first bacon experience, I decided to make an old family favorite - Pasta Milanese, with the fresh bacon as the star ingredient.

Pasta Milanese is a great cook-from-the-pantry dish that comes together quickly - you can have this on the table in under a half hour. Milanese was a favorite dish in our family and always disappeared from the table when mom made it (though she would make this with prosciutto or sliced pepperoni instead of bacon). I've changed my mom's recipe a little bit - minimizing the amount of oil I used, and heating the dish up with lots of red pepper flakes and black pepper. This was a fantastic lunch from the pantry, and the fresh basil made me long for summer on this subzero winter day.

Pasta Milanese
Serves 2

6oz brown rice penne pasta (dried)
2 thick slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan, grated with microplane
1/4 cup sliced oven roasted tomatoes (substitute sun-dried tomatoes)
2 T fresh basil, sliced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Bring 3qts of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the rice pasta to the boiling water and stir to make sure the noodles don't stick to each other. Cook according to the package directions.
While the pasta cooks, make the "sauce". Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon to the hot pan and cook for a minute or two, then add the onion to the pan, and saute until the bacon begins to crisp and the onions caramelize - about 5 minutes.
Turn the sauce burner down to low. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic and pepper to the pan along with the olive oil, if needed - if there's some bacon fat in the pan coating the onion, you may not need the additional oil.
When the pasta is done, drain it in a colander, then toss the pasta into the pan with the bacon and onion mixture. Quickly toss the pasta with the ingredients, then add in the basil, oven-roasted tomatoes and parmesan cheese and toss the pasta gently before serving.

537 cal/serving, 160cal from fat, 19.1g fat, 30mg cholesterol, 260mg sodium, 190mg potassium, 70g carbs, 4g fiber, 2g sugars

Skirt Steak Tacos with Chipotle Marinade

2010-01-06T17:09:00.001-06:00

My parents gave me a very wonderful hand-me-down gift while we were in Michigan for Christmas - my mom's old meat grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid Mixer. Dad had gotten Mom a new one, since her old one has a couple cracks in it near the grinder face, but was otherwise still working just fine. I was happy to take the grinder home with me, but really didn't think that my life had been lacking without a meat grinder in it.

Boy, was I wrong. I love this attachment. I went to the market first thing the next morning after we returned to Chicago, and bought a couple flaps of my favorite cut of beef - skirt steak. People overlook the humble skirt - it's a cheap cut, and a real pain to remove all of the silver skin and fat. But pounded a bit and marinated for a few hours before a quick sear on the grill - skirt delivers the beefiest flavor to be found on the cow, and it's our go-to cut for entertaining.

Since it is definitely not grilling season in Chicago, grabbing a couple nice pieces of skirt was the perfect opportunity to put my new grinder to the test. After removing the silver skin and most of the fat, I put the meat through the grinder on the largest grinding plate, and the resulting meat was a perfect chopped meat consistency that was perfect for the tacos. I like my tacos highly spiced, so I made a good chipotle marinade studded with garlic and brightened with a little vinegar and sherry. The finished tacos were definitely my favorite so far for wintertime (non-grilled) tacos.

Skirt Steak Tacos with Chipotle Marinade
Serves 6

2lbs skirt steak, untrimmed
1/3 cup chipotle puree
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, finely minced
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T cooking sherry
2 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Garnishes: minced white onion, lime wedges and cilantro

Lay the skirt steak (cold from the fridge) flat on a plastic cutting board and trim off most of the fat and all of the silver skin. I left a little fat on, to help give the tacos some flavor - the fat is easy to drain off later, once the meat is cooked. After you've trimmed the steak, cut it into large cubes so that it will fit through your meat grinder tube.
Attach your meat grinder attachment to the Kitchen Aid mixer, and install the largest grinding plate. Turn on the mixer, and place a large bowl under the grinder. Feed the meat into the grinder, using the wooden plunger to push the meat down the tube. The grinder will do the rest of the work for you.
Once all of the meat is ground, make the marinade. Combine the chipotle puree, cumin, garlic, onion, cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Stir to combine everything. Taste - it should be pretty salty to season all of the meat, and if you think it needs it - add up to 1/2 tsp salt.
Pour the marinade over the meat, and get in there with your hands and mix it all up well. Stash the meat in the fridge, covered, for a couple hours until you're ready for dinner.
I made homemade tortillas for this feast, so if you're going to make them yourself, make them before you cook the meat, and then just wrap them in a slightly damp kitchen towel, and put them on a plate in an oven on the lowest setting while you deal with the meat.
Heat a couple of large non-stick skillets over medium-high heat. Sprinkle enough meat into each pan to cover the bottom in one layer - no crowding, so that you'll be able to brown it. Let the meat cook for a minute, then stir, and cook for one more minute. Scoop the cooked steak out of the pan into a clean casserole with a slotted spoon, and pour off any remaining fat left in the pans. Stash the cooked meat into the oven (on low), in the covered casserole. Return the pans to the heat and cook another batch of steak, repeating the same procedure until all of the meat is cooked.

Serve the tacos with warm tortillas, lime wedges, cilantro, and minced white onion for garnish.

Seafood Gumbo

2010-01-03T07:08:00.000-06:00

This New Year's Eve, Mark and I had a very traditional Sutherland Family celebration with a quiet evening at home in Chicago. This means staying in your pajamas all day, mimosas in the afternoon, and then a late, leisurely dinner featuring crab. We feasted on king crab, spicy roasted potato wedges and green salad. It was awesome.

The second part of the tradition occurs on New Year's Day, when you take your saved crab shells and toss them into a pot of chicken stock (homemade, of course), and magically turn it into seafood stock after a short simmer. The resulting stock is nothing short of magical, and begs to be at the center of a meal. The New Year's tradition in our family means using that stock in seafood gumbo.

I have to apologize to my Southern friends up front - this isn't a traditional Louisiana gumbo - there's no roux or okra, but the flavor is just as good as anything I've had in a restaurant. I skipped the customary step of beginning with a roux since I wasn't sure a gluten-free roux would hold up in a soup. I am happy to report that a sprinkling of corn flour on the mirepoix at the beginning of the process and a teaspoon or so of file powder stirred in at the end produced a beautifully thick gravy with no gluten!

Gumbo needs a little kick to it, so don't be shy with the cayenne and spicy andouille sausage. When you serve the gumbo over brown rice, the spice will be soaked up by the rice just a bit, and provide a nice heat without sending you for the water pitcher. For those who like it really hot, put a bottle of hot sauce on the table, so your guests can dose their bowls to their liking.

Seafood Gumbo
Adapted from Momma Sutherland and Cook's Illustrated
Serves 8, serve over brown rice

1 pound small shrimp, shelled, and deveined (if desired), shells reserved
 4 cups chicken stock 
1 small pinch saffron threads 
leftover crab shells (or 8oz bottled clam juice) 
2 cups water 
1 T oil 
1 large onion, diced 
1 red bell pepper, diced 
2 stalks celery, diced 
1 carrot, peeled and diced 
4 cloves garlic, minced
 1.5 tsp dried thyme 
1/4 tsp cayenne
 2 T corn flour
 1 14oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes 
1 T tomato paste 
2 bay leaves 
8 oz turkey andouille sausage (Wellshire Farms), sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced into bite-sized pieces 
1.5 cups diced, cooked chicken breast
 1 1/2 tsp gumbo file powder 
salt & pepper to taste

 Garnishes: parsley, scallions and serve over brown rice

Bring reserved shrimp shells, crab shells (or clam juice), chicken stock, pinch of saffron and water to boil in stockpot or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 20 minutes. Strain and discard shells. Set stock aside.
Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat for a minute or two. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, thyme, salt, and cayenne; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften - about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the vegetables with the corn flour and stir to coat the vegetables. Stirring constantly, cook for two more minutes, then pour in the canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally - the mixture will get thick and turn into the consistency of loose paste. Add 1 quart reserved stock mixture and stir. Increase heat to high; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, skim off foam on surface, add bay leaves, and simmer uncovered, skimming foam as it rises to the surface, about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, stir in sausage; continue simmering to blend flavors, about 30 minutes longer. Stir in cooked chicken and shrimp; simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Off heat, stir in parsley, scallions, and filé powder. Let rest until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste with salt, ground black pepper, and cayenne; serve over about 1/2 cup of brown rice per bowl.

Gumbo: 250 cal per serving (about 1.5 cup of gumbo), 70 cal from fat, 7.8g fat, 155mg cholesterol, 770mg sodium, 380mg potassium, 15g carbs, 5g sugars, 29.4g protein

Brown rice: 108 cal per 1/2 cup, .8g fat, 22g carbs, 2.52g protein

New Year, New Cookbook

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year, dear blog readers! It's that time of year when the legions of food bloggers reflect upon the past year, and march forward into the new decade (eek!) with good cheer and thoughts of reformation after a week of wine, cookies and eating entirely too much.

I'm not one for extreme New Year's Resolutions, but if you're with me in re-dedicating to eating healthy, natural, whole foods - I've got just the thing for you!

For Christmas gifts for the family this year, I created a cookbook of some of my favorite meals/posts from 2009. I designed the book myself, copy-edited it (so forgive me if there are errors) and self-published the book on Blurb.com. The book is up for sale now and you can click on over and order yourself a copy. I make no money from the book sales, so if you like what I do here on the blog and are interested in the book but don't want to spend $28, I'm also offering a free PDF download of the entire book. I do it all for you, my friends, so why should I charge admission for stuff that already exists here?!

I will say that the books turned out beautifully, and the quality of the print definitely exceeded my expectations - which is quite a feat, since I'm a graphic designer and print buyer by trade. So, which ever version that you decide to use to take a peek at my book - consider it a New Year's Gift from me. Here's to a new decade of health and happiness!

Download a free e-book of the 2009 Whole Kitchen Cookbook

Click here to go buy a printed copy - NOW!

Cheers, and Happy New Year! Thanks for making my first year of blogging a good one and raise a glass to more great food in 2010!

Chicken Posole

2009-12-31T14:08:00.005-06:00

We've had a wonderful holiday season. Mark and I spent a few days in Michigan with our friends and family, and we're now enjoying a lazy week at home. Going outdoors beyond walking the dog seems like way too much work at the moment. An afternoon on the couch with a blanket in my lap and a cup of tea in hand while I catch up on one of our favorite shows, Beyond Everest, seems just about right.

I really should be using this time off to spend a few hours on the elliptical machine to work off some of the sugar I ate last week, but it just doesn't seem to be at the top of my priority list. Next week I know I'll hit the workouts hard and lose the sugar baby currently attached to my belly. In the meantime, winter weather calls for a little more soup.

I couldn't get enough of that pork stew I made a couple weeks ago, and then Heidi over at 101 Cookbooks posted her version of a red posole. I decided to get the ingredients ready for another go at this one. I wanted to lighten the calorie load just a touch, so I used some roast chicken in place of the pork. Taking Heidi's cue, I decided to cook my own hominy - I wasn't thrilled with the mushy texture of the canned hominy last time.

I found hominy at one of the Hispanic markets in our neighborhood, and it came in broken pieces. Hominy can hog all the space in a pot of soup, so I thought the smaller pieces would be nice. I soaked the corn overnight, and then cooked it up with some aromatics, and it is SO much better than the canned stuff - it has much more corn flavor, but more importantly, it has a nice toothy, firm texture. If you can't find hominy at your local market, you can order it from the amazing folks at Rancho Gordo.

Chicken Posole
Serves 6

Hominy:
1 cup dried hominy pieces (I used Goya brand)
1 carrot, chunked
1 stalk celery, chunked
1 bay leaf
1/2 onion, whole
2 cloves garlic, whole
1/2 tsp salt
1 T Mexican oregano

Cooking hominy: Place the dried hominy in a large bowl and cover with three inches of water. Soak overnight. After soaking, drain the corn and rinse it. Pour the corn into a 3qt pot, fill with water, and add the carrot, celery, bay leaf, onion, garlic and oregano. Bring to a boil, cook for 30 minutes, then add the salt, and taste a kernel to see if it's nearly done. It took about 50 minutes to cook the hominy pieces.

Posole:
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
4 cups chicken stock
1 14oz can fire-roasted tomatoes with chipotles (Muir Glen brand)
1 T oil
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 T corn flour
3/4 cup frozen sweet corn, thawed
2 T ancho chile powder
2 tsp cumin, ground
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp coriander, ground
cooked hominy
cilantro - garnish
salt to taste

Cooking the chicken: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then place in a roasting pan in the oven and roast for 35 minutes. Remove, and set aside to cool while you chop the veggies for the rest of the soup.
Soup: Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot and bell pepper to the pot and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Sprinkle the corn flour over the vegetables, then add the garlic, ancho chile powder, cumin, smoked paprika, cumin and stir for one minute. Add the can of fire roasted tomatoes and stir, cooking for another 5 minutes to develop the flavors.
Add the chicken stock and cooked hominy. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to gently simmer for 20 minutes.
While the soup cooks, remove the skin and bones from the chicken breasts (stash the bones in the freezer for making chicken stock later), then dice the meat into bite-sized pieces. After the soup has simmered for 20 minutes, add the chicken to the soup and season with salt to taste. Serve each bowl garnished with cilantro.

272 cal/bowl, 80cal from fat, 8g fat, 35mg cholesterol, 790mg sodium, 600mg sodium, 31g carbs, 6g fiber, 10g sugars

Christmas Wishes

2009-12-23T14:01:00.010-06:00

Mark, Turbo and I will be hitting the road tomorrow and heading to Michigan for a few days with our families. We have much to be thankful for this year. We're particularly looking forward to our first Christmas with our newly HUGE family, now that Mark's Dad got married and we have new siblings and nieces and nephews - it's going to be a joyful Christmas for our family!

My Christmas wish when we travel to Detroit is always the same - to make it through a holiday without getting glutened. It's much harder than you'd think, and every holiday buffet table contains peril - not just in the dishes I know I cannot eat, but from an errant spoon or fork dipping into my dishes with a crumb of wheat on it. The tiniest morsel of gluten can make me sick these days. So say a prayer for me and my nephew Matthew that we make it through the holidays healthy and happily eating our own special gluten-free goodies.

Speaking of goodies - here's what we'll be eating in the next few days:

Gluten-free Rugelach
Recipe from the genius GlutenFreeGirl
These rugelach are amazing - flaky, buttery, and filled with goodness. I made 2 batches of rugelach - two savory flavors and two sweet for the various potlucks we'll be going to. For the savory fillings I used basil pesto and parmesan for one, and a puree of oven-roasted tomatoes, toasted pinenuts and feta. It's taking all my willpower to not gobble them up before we leave! For the sweet varieties, I did one with bourbon maple cranberry puree and one with cinnamon sugar and minced dried tart cherries.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Recipe from Emily - The View from the 32nd Floor
I love these cookies - this is the third time I've made them. Perfect, chewy bites, rich with serious chocolate flavor - they're like eating the edges of gooey brownies, and super simple to make. I dressed them up for the holidays with pieces of mints leftover from the mint chocolate ice cream.

Wild Rice with Mushrooms
This dish requires no recipe - Sautee some onions and garlic, then add to a pot with 2 cups wild rice blend, water, chicken stock, thyme and salt, and cook until tender. Top with mushrooms sauteed with olive oil and thyme and a bit of parsley. Perfect side dish for any holiday table.

Sweet Potato Crisp with Bacon
Recipe from November 2009
I already swooned over this one at Thanksgiving, and it was so good, we'll be having this one with Christmas dinner (Mom's making prime rib - YUM!).

Oven Roasted Tomato & Feta Spread, Basil Pesto & Goat Cheese Spread
Serve with gluten free crackers
Have you made these oven roasted tomatoes yet? I've got quite a stash of them in the freezer, so I made one of the rugelach fillings with a puree of my roasted tomatoes, feta, red pepper flakes and toasted pine nuts. I had some leftover, and munched on it for lunch with some Mary's Gone Crackers, so I decided I'd save the rest for our Christmas Eve buffet. I paired it with the leftover pesto from the other rugelach filling and whipped it with some plain goat cheese - instant appetizer!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream - Dairy Free

2009-12-22T19:43:00.003-06:00

I've had a hard time getting into the holiday groove this year - it feels like the holidays snuck up me, and suddenly they're HERE. The weather in Chicago is finally chipping in to do its part and I awoke at 5am to a winter wonderland.

Yes, I get up stupidly early, but my early morning walks with the dog are often my favorite part of the day. The city is quiet, and walking a dog reminds you that life is not to be rushed through - there are good things to stop and sniff...and Turbo is pretty good about making sure that he is not rushed. This morning, the city was enveloped in a couple inches of perfect, fluffy snow with fat flakes falling from the sky and sparkling in the streetlights. I love how QUIET the city becomes when it's snowing and it makes me want to take more time to wander with the dog.

On crisp, snowy days, I think something a little minty is the perfect treat. This is a simple chocolate ice cream (dairy-free, of course), but do try to use really good cocoa powder to get that deep, dark chocolate flavor. I added peppermint extract to the base, and chopped up a handful of After Eight Mints into tiny pieces, and dropped them into the churn right before the ice cream was finished turning. (Note to other clumsy cooks: be sure to remove the seal from a new bottle of peppermint extract before you squeeze it...I didn't, and our ice cream is REALLY minty with a bit too much extract in it)

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart

2 cans coconut milk (chaokoh brand is my favorite)
1 pinch salt
2/3 cup good quality dutched cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 T peppermint extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
10-15 After Eight Dinner Mints, chopped fine.

Pour 1 can of coconut milk into a small saucepan, along with the sugar, pinch of salt and the cocoa powder. Stir constantly, and heat the mixture until quite warm, but not boiling. While the milk and cocoa warm, pour the other can of coconut milk into a medium sized bowl.
Whisk the egg yolks in a cereal bowl, then temper the yolks by SLOWLY pouring the heated cocoa milk into the yolks, whisking the entire time. Once you've poured most of the milk into the yolks, pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan, and use a spatula to stir constantly over med-low heat as you create the custard. After about 7-10 minutes, the custard will be done - the pot will get pretty steamy, and will have thickened a bit.
Set a fine mesh sieve over the bowl with the second can of coconut milk in it and then pour the custard into the bowl. Stir the mixture together, then add the vanilla and peppermint extract. Chill overnight before turning in your ice cream maker. Add in the chopped mints during the last five minutes of churning.

328 cal per 1/2 cup, 170cal from fat, 21g fat, 80mg cholesterol, 10mg sodium, 90mg potassium, 32g carbs, 19g sugars,

Ancho Chile Pork Stew

2009-12-20T20:15:00.002-06:00

I have to thank my friend Heather from the Chik n' Pastry blog for a couple of posts that have definitely been the high points of the winter eating season thus far in our kitchen. First, Heather posted a recipe for Chinese Char Siu Pork, which we enjoyed last night (and I'll tell you all about that a little later on). Then, Heather posted a recipe for an ancho chile pork stew, and I knew I had to make that one too. Add to that a very excellent sausage pizza I made Friday night, and we've been enjoying a little bit of a pork-fest this weekend - but that's not a bad thing.

This is a pretty simple stew to put together, and once you've got the meat browned, it's done in under an hour and ready for the table and warming your belly. The flavors of the stew are somewhere between a Texas-style chili and a Mexican caldo - bold, spicy with a thick broth that is perfect for mopping up with some gluten-free corn bread. We'll happily be enjoying the leftovers for lunches this week.

Ancho Chile Pork Stew
Serves 6 
Adapted from Chik n' Pastry, which was adapted from Cooking Light, December 2009 

 2 T ancho chile powder 
1 T dried oregano
 2 tsp smoked paprika 
2 tsp ground cumin 
1/2 t salt
 2 lbs pork stew meat, in bite-sized cubes
 2 T oil, divided
 1 large onion, chopped 
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped 
3 cloves minced garlic 
1 28-oz can hominy, drained 
3 c chicken stock 
1 14 oz can fire-roasted chipotle petite-diced tomatoes, undrained (Muir Glenn)
cilantro for garnish

Combine ancho powder, oregano, paprika, cumin and salt in a large bowl (set aside 1.5 tsp spice mixture) and add in pork, tossing well to coat.
Heat 1 T oil in Dutch oven over med-hi heat. add 1/3 of the pork in one layer and cook 2 minutes, then turn the pork pieces over, sear for 2 more minutes. Then, remove the pork to a clean bowl. Add a little more oil if needed, then add another 1/3 of the pork to the pot and sear for 2 minutes on both sides. Remove pork and set aside, then sear the last batch of pork, then add the last of the pork to the bowl you've set aside.
Add 1 tsp oil to the empty pot and add onion, pepper, garlic. saute 5 minutes or until tender, stirring often to get all of the good browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Return pork to the pot and add remaining spice mixture, broth, hominy, tomatoes; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 45 minutes. Serve and garnish with cilantro.

386 cal per bowl, 120cal from fat, 13.9g fat, 75mg cholesterol, 960mg sodium, 290mg potassium, 29g carbs, 4g fiber, 9g sugars, 37g protein

Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Risotto

2009-12-15T19:24:00.007-06:00

Years ago, before we were married, there was a dish that was the favorite in our home. I called it Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Pastina, and I had adapted it the Travigne Cookbook, one of the first cookbooks I purchased after moving to Chicago. It was a pretty simple dish - a pureed sauce of roasted red bell peppers, jalepenos and roasted garlic, folded into beautiful little orbs of pastina cooked in broth. If you can eat wheat, try cooking Pastina sometime. It's the smallest kind of pasta you can buy - it looks like couscous' big brother, and cooks up into plump little balls. A simple sauce clings to the pastina beautifully. I would usually top the dish with a few shrimp that had been sauteed with garlic and olive oil. YUM.

I hadn't thought about this dish in many years - giving up wheat, I'd tossed this old favorite into the dustbin of memory, until Mark inquired about it a few days ago. They don't make rice pastina that I've seen, so I decided to dust the cobwebs off the central idea of the recipe - roasted peppers - and turn it into a risotto. The results were just as tasty as the pastina, and now we have an old favorite back on the menu.

To put a new twist on the recipe, I decided to make the risotto in the rice cooker...a technique which I am dubbing "fancy lazyfood." Making a risotto without standing at the stove for 35 minutes?! Sign me up! The finished texture of the dish is a little softer than you'd get with the slow stirred stove-top method, but I can give that up for a nice weeknight meal if it frees me from the stove so that I can catch up on 30 Rock while rocking out on the elliptical machine. If you're making this on the stovetop, refer back to my mushroom risotto recipe for the basic technique, and just add the red pepper puree when the rice is nearly done. Tip: I made the sauce over the weekend, so all I had to do when I got home was take care of the rice.
Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Risotto Serves 3

Sauce:
4 Red bell peppers, roasted, peeled and de-seeded
3 jalepenos, roasted, peeled and de-seeded
4 cloves garlic, roasted, peeled
salt to taste
cayenne to taste
Sauce:

Preheat the broiler. Put the red peppers, jalepenos and garlic (in their skins) on a pan. Place under the broiler on the top shelf for 5 minutes, until the tops of the peppers begin to blacken. Using tongs, turn the peppers onto an un-charred side and broil for another 5 minutes until the second side of the peppers is blackened. Turn the peppers again and broil until the third side is roasted. When the peppers are pretty well charred on all sides, move the peppers and garlic to a mixing bowl, cover with a plate or lid, and let the peppers rest for 5 minutes. The heat from the peppers will steam the skins loose.
After five minutes, you should be able to easily peel and de-seed the peppers, and take the skins off the garlic. Put the peppers and their juices and the garlic cloves into a food processor or mini-prep and puree until smooth. Add salt to taste, and a few sprinkles of cayenne if it's not spicy enough. Set aside. You will have some sauce leftover if you're making a small batch of risotto - freeze it, or use it as a pizza sauce, or toss with some noodles for another night.

Risotto:
3/4 cup + 2 T aborio rice
1/2 onion, diced
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock, heated
pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp salt (only needed if using homemade, unsalted stock)

Garnish: sauteed shrimp and parmesan cheese

Rice Cooker Risotto:

Note: I have a fancy "fuzzy logic" (don't ask me what that means) rice cooker that has a porridge setting that I used to cook the rice - a regular rice cooker should take 25-35 minutes to do the risotto.
Heat your stock in the microwave until it's nearly boiling. Warm 3/4 cup of the red pepper sauce in the micro (does not need to be boiling).
Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 T olive oil, then add the onions and saute for 3 minutes, until translucent. Add the rice to the pan, and stir around for 2-3 more minutes until the rice is well coated in oil and a little bit toasted. Add the wine to the pan, and stir until the wine is absorbed.
Scoop the rice mixture into the bowl of your rice cooker, and add the stock, salt (if needed) and the saffron. Close the lid on the rice cooker and cook on the porridge setting. It did not need a full cooking cycle - it cooked for about 35-40 minutes in my machine, and I did stir it once mid-cycle just to check on things. When it's done, taste, add a little more salt if needed, and serve in bowls with freshly grated parmesan, and top with a few sauteed shrimp if you're feeling extra fancy.

Indian Spiced Red Lentil and Rice Soup

2009-12-11T22:24:00.004-06:00

On my way home from a long week in the office this evening, I somehow managed to get a train without heat. December is giving us a cold start to the holiday season here in Chicago, so between the meat locker-like train and the walk home, I needed something to thaw my chilled bones. The Friday night fridge is a lean proposition since I go to the market on Saturdays; dinner was either going to be another round of bacon-egg-slurry or some kind of soup since I had a quart of stock sitting in the fridge waiting for inspiration.

Heidi Swanson posted a recipe for Red Lentil Soup a couple months ago that seemed intriguing. I'd filed it in the back of my mind on the "culinary to-do list," but didn't give it another thought until my friend Emily tweeted that she loved the soup and had already made two pots of it. I trust Emily's opinions on soup, so I knew this one had to be on the menu soon.

This lentil soup doesn't call for much in the way of ingredients, so I chopped an onion and some garlic and was on my way. I decided to give Heidi's recipe an Indian twist with some freshly toasted and ground spices, and WOW, it really turned up the volume on the flavor in the soup. I love Indian daals, and this is very reminiscent of those flavors. This is a case where I would definitely recommend toasting and grinding the spices yourself - you want the flavors to be fresh and bold. Brown mustard seeds are one of my favorite Indian spices, and I don't use them nearly enough - they add a peppery heat and totally change the character of the cumin and coriander in the dish, making a perfect harmony of heat and spice.

The soup cooks up pretty quickly and with minimal fuss, so you can easily make this on a weeknight. I also made some Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread to go with the soup. And I think that a bowl of soup and warm homemade bread is the perfect kick-off to the weekend.

Indian Red Lentil and Rice Soup
Serves 4
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Spice mix:
1 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Soup:
1 T extra virgin olive oil 1 onion, chopped
1 T parsley (dried or fresh) 
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock 
1 1/3 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed 
1/2 cup brown rice
salt to taste

Garnish: toasted slivered almonds, chopped cilantro

Heat a small pan over medium heat. Pour the whole spices into the pan - mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, peppercorns an red pepper flakes. Toast for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan often so that the spices don't burn. When they begin to get fragrant, pour the spices into your spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a coarse powder. Set aside.
In a big soup pot, over medium heat, combine the olive oil, onion and a pinch of salt. Let them brown, and caramelize a bit, stirring occasionally - about 10 minutes of cooking time. When they start to brown, add the garlic and toasted spice mix. Stir for another minute or two, and when the spices are warm and very fragrant, add the chicken (or vegetable) stock. Cover, and bring to a boil.
When the pot is boiling, add the lentils, rice and parsley. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and cook until the rice is tender - about an hour. Stir the soup occasionally as it simmers. The red lentils will break down into almost a puree and will thicken the soup. If the pot gets too thick for you, add a little water. When the rice is tender, season the soup with salt to taste, then serve. Garnish each bowl with toasted almonds and chopped cilantro.

470 cal per serving, 90cal from fat, 10g fat, 10mg cholesterol, 540 mg sodium, 490 mg potassium, 69g carbs, 11g fiber, 10g sugars, 26.3g protein

Cranberries with Bourbon

2009-12-06T11:07:00.005-06:00

I have to subject you to one more Thanksgiving-ish recipe before I move on to other things. I saw the recipe for this cranberry sauce on The Kitchen Sink (another fabulous Chicago blogger), and trust me - you need to make this sauce. Cranberries have always been my favorite thing about Thanksgiving - Mom would make this great raw cranberry and orange zest relish that I always loved - so tart that it made the back of your jaw sting just a little. And really, we need to eat cranberries more than once a year - they're a local and seasonal treat that can go far beyond being the sad sidekick for the Thanksgiving turkey.

This year, I wanted a cranberry dish that was a bit more mellow, so that it would go nicely on leftover turkey sandwiches - this recipe fit the bill perfectly. I added the zest and juice from a tangerine to the original recipe, and cut the sugar in half, as I still like a little pucker to my cranberries. And since Thanksgiving, I've made 2 more batches of the cranberries, as it has become my favorite topping for my morning bowl of steel cut oats.

Bourbon Maple Cranberries
Makes 2 cups, 1/4 cup per serving
Adapted from Bon Apetit

1 package of fresh cranberries (12 oz)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sugar
juice of one small tangerine
zest from tangerine, peeled
2 T bourbon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients except burbon in a small baking dish. Bake uncovered until cranberries are tender and sugar is dissolved, stirring once, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in bourbon. Refrigerate cranberry sauce and serve however you like - on a turkey sandwich, on morning oatmeal, or by the spoonful! Will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge.

88 cal per 1/4 cup serving, 0 cal from fat, 0g fat, 20g carbs, 2g fiber, 18g sugar

Quinoa Chile Bowl

2009-12-03T17:23:00.000-06:00

This is a pretty random concoction that I threw together this evening when I got home and realized that we were out of leftovers for lunches this week. I always try to have yummy leftovers for lunch, since eating out is both expensive and challenging for my gluten-free self. Good leftovers give you something to look forward to, no matter what goes haywire during the day...and on a Full Moon week - there's plenty going haywire, so lunch is a welcome respite.

There's not much more to say about this dish other than it's a spicy bowl of goodness, crafted from odds and ends in the fridge. I didn't have quite enough BBQ pork leftover for 2 lunches, so I tossed in there for garnish, and it adds a nice smoky note to the concoction, but could just as easily be left out, and a can of black beans tossed in.

Quinoa Chile Bowl with Pork
Serves 6

2 cups Quinoa (dry)
1 T butter
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 1/2 cups sliced bell pepper
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
6 oz leftover pork shoulder (optional)
1 T cumin
1 T chile con carne spice
4 T salsa
2 T chipotle puree
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chicken stock
water
Cilantro to garnish

Cook the quinoa in your rice cooker (2 1/2 rice cooker cups of quinoa) with 1 cup chicken stock, water to fill to the 2.5 line on the rice cooker bowl. Add the chile powder, cumin, salsa and chipotle peppers in the rice cooker, and cook on the quick steam setting until done.
In a large saute pan, melt the butter, and saute the bell pepper, garlic and onion 4-5 minutes until soft, then set aside.
When the quinoa is cooked, pour it into a large mixing bowl, and add the cooked onions and bell pepper, corn, cilantro and pork. Mix to combine. If you want it spicier, add more chipotle puree or some siracha sauce.

388 cal/serving, 100cal from fat, 11g fat, 30mg cholesterol, 280mg sodium, 270mg potassium, 56g carbs, 7g fiber, 3g sugars, 18.7g protein

Read All About It!

2009-12-02T20:09:00.003-06:00

Hey y'all! If you're stopping on by for the first time - welcome! I hope you enjoy the recipes in this gluten-free joint. If you're one of my regular beloved readers, check out the profile on The Whole Kitchen on Gapers Block Drive-Thru. Read all about it!

Gapers Block Drive-Thru: The Whole Kitchen

Celery Root and Apple Slaw

2009-12-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

Celery root has historically been the vegetable the appears each fall in our farm share box, and I stare at it and think "Huh?"...and wonder what to do with it. When cooked, it tastes of celery and has a texture somewhere between a parsnip and potato. Lots of people seem to mash it up with potatoes, but I don't care for mashes, so I usually just peel it, cube it and chuck it in a stew, where it stays in the background.

Over the holiday weekend, while we were comatose on the couch after who knows how many leftover turkey sandwiches, I was watching the Food Network (dreaming of more food, even in my food coma), and saw one of the chefs prepare a celery root and apple slaw. Her salad was far fancier than this one - complete with pan roasted mushrooms sauteed in duck fat - I don't have that, but I can tell you that this salad is super-healthy and has an unexpected lightness from this ugly root veggie. The light, earthy celery flavor against the tart, sweet apple is perfection, and the vinaigrette balances the two with a savory note.

Oh, and I served this excellent salad with my slow roasted BBQ pork shoulder tacos with handmade tortillas. Oh, Yeah. Not bad for a Monday night dinner.

Celery Root Apple Slaw
Serves 2

1 large celery root
1 apple - tart/crisp variety
1 tangerine, juiced and seeds discarded
1 T olive oil
1 T stone ground mustard
salt & pepper to taste
garnish with cilantro

Make the vinaigrette - in a small bowl, combine the tangerine juice, olive oil, mustard and whisk to combine. Add salt & pepper to taste - I like quite a bit of pepper in my slaw.
Clean the celery root by cutting off all the rough edges and tough ends. Use a mandoline with the thin-cutting blade and slice the celery root and apple into lovely moon-shaped slices. Stack the slices up into small piles and cut the pieces into thin matchsticks. Place the apple & celery root in a medium mixing bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Let slaw marinate in the fridge for a half hour before serving.

157 cal per serving, 60 cal from fat, 7.1g fat, 380 mg sodium, 75mg potassium, 24g carbs, 4g fiber, 15g sugars, 1.7g protein

Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust and Meringue

2009-11-29T13:31:00.004-06:00

This, my friends, is one serious pie. If I were smart, I would have cut this into very small wedges to be savored. But I didn't. Thanksgiving day exists in a place outside any concern for calorie counts or cardio workouts. For one day (okay, one LONG weekend), I eat all of the delicious foods of the season and revel in the holiday treats. So don't feel too bad if you eat this pie, as I really do think it is worth the calories.

I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I loved this one. The gingersnaps make for a great sweet/salty crust that balances perfectly against the creamy pumpkin custard. I add some almonds to the crust for a nice toasty flavor, and they add a nice chewiness to the crust. If you're using gluten-free gingersnaps, I highly recommend using Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz for this recipe - I did you the favor of testing all of the gluten-free ginger cookies on the market, and these were the crunchiest and spiciest, and I like the molasses in them. Most Whole Foods stores carry them.

And if the decadence of a cookie crust and rich custard aren't enough for you, why not pile on a meringue topping, right?! Meringue is a tasty trick not pulled out of the pastry hat nearly enough. It can stand in for whipped cream, but the toasted, creamy texture of the meringue is a beautiful thing...and is definitely the healthiest part of this pie.

Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust and Meringue Topping serves 8
Inspired by Closet Cooking

Crust:
1 1/2 cups gluten-free Pamela's gingersnap cookie crumbs (pulverized in the food processor)
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter (melted)

Directions for crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Pour the gingersnap cookies into a food processor and pulverize into crumbs - I used the entire package of Pamela's gingersnaps. Pour the crumbs into a medium mixing bowl.
Pour 1/2 cup raw almonds into the food processor bowl and pulverize until the almonds are finely ground, then pour into the mixing bowl with the gingersnaps.
Mix the gingersnap crumbs, sugar, ginger and melted butter in a bowl.
Press the mixture into the bottom of a springform pan. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to press the crumbs down in an even layer, and to help get into the corners.
Bake the crust for about 12 minutes, making sure to put a sheet pan under the springform pan in case of dripping (or your kitchen will fill with smoke like mine did - oops!).
While the crust bakes, make the filling.

Pie Filling:
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
8oz evaporated milk

Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into the pre-baked pie shell, and then bake for 35-45 minutes, until the custard has set and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the filling. Remove from the oven, and allow the pie to totally cool before making the meringue topping.

Meringue Topping
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 tablespoons confectioners sugar
pinch of salt.

You can top the pumpkin pie with meringue a few hours before serving, but you don't want to do it a day in advance - the meringue will get tough.
Preheat the broiler. Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, whip the mixture on high speed until the whites get glossy, white and form stiff peaks when swirled with a spoon - it will take about 5-7 minutes of whipping, so be patient. Just when you think it's not gonna happen, the whites are magically transformed into meringue.
Spoon the meringue over the top of the pie, making a nice thick layer. Use the back of a spoon to make some sexy swirls and waves in the meringue. Place the pie under the broiler for 5-7 minutes, until the top is toasted and the meringue is set. Watch it carefully - don't leave the stove, as it can burn quite easily.
Serve the pie at room temperature.

479 cal per slice, 160cal from fat, 23.1g fat, 85mg cholesterol, 310mg sodium, 230mg potassium, 51g carbs, 2g fiber, 40g sugars, 9.6g protein

Savory Sweet Potato Crisp

2009-11-27T11:42:00.007-06:00

We had a rare Thanksgiving feast in our home this year. It was wonderful not to spend a day in the car, even though we missed being with our families. Perhaps the best thing was knowing that I could eat everything that was on the table without worry of gluten contamination.

We had an enormous heritage turkey from our farm share - we were initially intimidated by the 16lb bird (we ordered an 8-10lb bird), but now I'm thankful for all the leftovers we have today. I also made my first gluten-free gravy thanks to GlutenFreeGirl, and it was perhaps the best gravy I've ever had. This morning I made a loaf of Pamela's gluten-free bread so that we can have sandwiches all weekend, and the carcass awaits transformation into turkey and wild rice soup. It's a good week for eating.

Of all the delicious things on our Thanksgiving table, I think everyone agreed that this sweet potato crisp was the winner, and nearly all of it had disappeared by the end of the meal. I love sweet potatoes and am happy to peel and roast some up with cumin and chipotle puree for a simple weeknight dinner. Mark is a bit more skeptical about sweet potatoes, but he loved this dish too - though what's not to like about anything served with a bacon-infused crumble topping?!

This dish is the perfect balance of savory and sweet. By baking the potatoes in their skins, their sweet flavor is concentrated (I hate the watery taste of boiled sweets), and they are really easy to peel with your fingers once they've cooled off slightly. The puree on its own tastes better than just about any sweet potatoes I've had on thanksgiving, but the spicy, slightly sweet crumble on top makes the dish. Instead of using butter only in the crumble, I used some of the reserved bacon fat that I keep in the fridge, and the flavor and aroma of bacon are definitely there in the finished dish, and the combination of flavors and textures are holiday perfection. I think this one will grace our table for years to come.

Savory Sweet Potato Crisp
Serves 10, 3/4 cup per serving

5 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
dash of allspice
a few grates of nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
2 T butter, divided
2 T bacon fat, chilled
3/4 cup pecans, chopped fine
1/3 cup gluten free flour mix
1/3 cup gluten free oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Wash each sweet potato, then poke a few holes in each potato with a fork. Place the potatoes on a sheet pan, and roast for 40 minutes, or until tender all the way through when tested with a fork. Remove potatoes from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skins off with your fingers, and place the flesh of the potatoes in your food processor bowl. Add 1 tsp of the cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 T of the butter, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Puree the mixture in the food processor until totally smooth.
Butter a 1 qt baking dish, and pour the sweet potatoes into the the dish. You can now stash the sweet potatoes in the fridge and chill if you're making the dish in advance (if you do chill before finishing, gently rewarm the sweets in the microwave before baking with topping). Otherwise, proceed to the crisp topping and baking.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the gluten free flour and oats, pecans, brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, dash of allspice, and a few grates of nutmeg. Stir with a fork to combine the ingredients. Add the butter and chilled bacon fat (it should be in a solid-ish form to start), and blend the ingredients with a pastry blender or a fork. When the fats and dry ingredients are combined thoroughly, you should have a crumbly topping.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the re-warmed sweet potatoes and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the topping has browned. Serve piping hot.

234 cal/serving, 100 cal from fat, 11.4g fat, 10mg cholesterol, 135mg sodium, 470mg potassium, 31g carbs, 5g fiber, 3.7g protein

Tortilla Soup

2009-11-22T19:36:00.004-06:00

The warm weather in Chicago this week has my mind solidly split between fall and winter. It's hard to think about planning the Thanksgiving menu when the sun is shining and it's 55 degrees out. So, I'm hoping that the final menu will come together before Thursday morning.

A couple of weeks ago one of my readers asked if I had a tortilla soup recipe. And I do - I happen to love this soup, and stockpile sweet corn and cobs in the freezer all summer so that I can make this soup when the weather turns cool. I was amazed that I hadn't blogged this recipe yet, so I'm happy to finally share it with you.

I've adapted this soup from Wolfgang Puck. When I worked at The Cradle, there was a Puck's Cafe about 7 blocks away, and a few times each year I would go there for lunch, specifically for soup. I've always enjoyed watching Wolfgang on TV - he's a high-energy guy with an infectious love for the food he cooks - and the man KNOWS soup. There are very few restaurants where I will order soup, but Wolfgang's crew can make me soup any day, as their soups have a very homeade, slow-simmered taste.

This tortilla soup is hearty, and full of chile and corn flavors. Sauteeing the squares of corn tortilla in oil before cooking the vegetables will help to thicken the soup later on - without the inclusion of wheat! If you want to make the soup even heartier, you can add a can of hominy to turn it into posole, or add some shredded cooked chicken. Next time you feel like a spicy, warming soup, give this one a try.

One year ago in the Whole Kitchen:
Thai Coconut Curry Butternut Soup, Root Vegetable Hash

Tortilla Soup
adapted from Wolfgang Puck
serves 5

2 ears of fresh corn, kernels removed from cob, and cobs reserved (or use 1 cup of frozen corn)
4 or 5 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 small onion (about 2 ounces), peeled, trimmed, and quartered
1 small jalapeño pepper, trimmed and seeded
3 poblano chiles
1 T chipotle puree
1 tablespoons oil
2 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch squares
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 T ground cumin
6 cups chicken stock or broth
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish:
tortilla crisps (see below)
chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Using a large knife, carefully scrape the kernels off the corn cobs and set aside, reserving the cobs.
Using a food processor fitted with the steel blade, coarsely chop the garlic, onion, jalapeño and poblano peppers, and the corn kernels. Reserve.
Make the soup: In a large stockpot, heat the oil. Add the squares of tortillas and cook over low heat until they are slightly crisp. Stir in the chopped vegetables and simmer just until the vegetables are coated with the oil. Do not brown.
Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, chipotle puree, cumin and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes to maximize the flavor - the mixture will grow very thick. Slowly pour in the stock, add the corn cobs, and cook over low heat until the soup is reduced by one third - about an hour
Discard the corn cobs and purée 3 cups of the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return the pureed soup to the pot and season with salt and pepper.

Prepare the tortilla crisp garnish: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the tortillas into thin strips and arrange on a small baking tray, and toss with 1 T of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Bake until the strips are crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.

239 cal/bowl, 60 cal from fat, 6.9g fat, 620g sodium, 370g potassium, 37g carbs, 3g fiber, 11g sugars, 8.9g protein

Roasted Parsnip Soup

2009-11-17T20:58:00.003-06:00

Friday night, my friends Stacey and Jon came over for dinner before we headed out to a David Wilcox concert. I met Stacey ten years ago at Holden Village, a remote retreat community where I lived for 6 months. Holden is a place of spirit and relationships and mealtimes were a highlight of each day because of the wonderful food and conversation that happened around the table.

Lunch at Holden was usually homeade soup, warm bread fresh from the oven and green salad. So when Stacey and Jon agreed to stop by for dinner before the show, I knew that a simple Holden meal was just the thing...And BOY, was it! I think the company amplified the lovely meal, but the parsnip soup worked far better than I had initially thought. Roasting the parsnips before making the soup brought out some of the sweetness in this earthy root, and the leeks added a lovely mellow savoriness, while the potatoes added some body to the soup. The addition of the sherry added just a hint of brightness to boost the flavors just a touch.

If you've got parsnips lingering in your crisper, give this one a try, and share it with some dear friends for a perfect evening.

Roasted Parsnip Soup
Serves 6

5 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup half & half
3 oz goat cheese
1 T olive oil
1 T bacon grease (or olive oil)
4 cups parsnips, peeled and cubed
3 leeks, sliced
3/4 cup dry sherry
2 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste

Garnishes: parsley & crumbled bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil a sheet pan, and pour the cubed parsnips onto the pan, and toss with 1 T olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes, then stir the parsnips and roast for 20 more minutes before removing from the oven.
While the parsnips are roasting, make the rest of the soup. Heat a large pot over medium heat and add 1 T of bacon fat or olive oil. Add the sliced leeks, and saute for a few minutes, until they begin to soften. Add in the potatoes, rosemary, thyme and garlic, and stir for a minute, until you can smell the garlic and herbs.
Add the chicken stock, sherry and the parsnips when they are done roasting. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the potatoes are tender, grab your immersion blender and puree the soup until smooth. Add the half & half and goat cheese, then taste, and add salt & pepper to taste. If you think the soup needs another shot of sherry to brighten the soup, go for it.
Garnish each bowl with some minced parsley and a bit of crumbled bacon.

350 cal/bowl, 100 cal from fat, 11.4g fat, 25mg cholesterol, 370mg sodium, 890mg potassium, 40g carbs, 6g fiber, 10g sugars

Spicy Butternut Squash Tacos with Caramelized Onions

2009-11-15T20:44:00.004-06:00

On Saturday, we had a girls' night at our place, so I was in the kitchen all afternoon stirring and cooking for the feast ahead. When this group of women get together I know two things: there will be much laughter, and we will eat VERY well. Both were true on Saturday, and by the end of the evening I was stuffed and feeling the food coma. I woke up this morning still feeling full and a little lethargic from all the food the night before.

We have to get a little creative cooking for this gang of feisty feminists - we've got me with my gluten-free lifestyle, and Kris who's vegetarian. But is is a problem? - absolutely not! Even if the contestants on Top Chef seem completely stunned to have to cook a gluten-free or vegetarian meal, it's certainly not a problem for our crew. I lose a little respect for chefs who show up to a competition without a stunning vegetarian or allergy-free menu in their back pocket - it's not that hard!

For this gluten and meat free gathering, I focused on using up the three butternut squash that were hulking in the fridge. I wanted to go beyond the typical varieties of squash soup, and something heartier, and a little spicy. I decided to make some refried beans, and then roast the squash for tacos with homeade tortillas.

The tacos went over very well - there were groans of pleasure, and every single tortilla and bite of squash miraculously disappeared. The balance of the spicy chipotles with the sweet squash was perfect. I topped the tacos with Mexican cotija cheese, which is a bit like parmesan - a dry, hard cheese with a nice nuttiness and quite salty. In addition to the cheese, we topped the tacos with cilantro and oven caramelized onions. And I enjoyed the tacos so much, I did a re-run tonight, as I still had more squash in the fridge, and some leftover beans. If you love butternut squash, give this a try for a different way to utilize the bounty of autumn.

Butternut Squash Tacos
Serves 2

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and cubed
1 T olive oil
2 T chipotle en adobo puree
1/2 tsp salt

Garnishes:
oven roasted caramelized onions
cilantro
grated cotija cheese (use feta if you can't get cotija where you live)

Serve with homeade tortillas (or store-bought) and beans.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a sheet pan with olive oil.
Place the cubed squash in a large bowl, add the olive oil, chipotle puree and salt and toss to coat. Pour the squash onto the oiled sheet pan and spread the squash in one layer. Roast for 30 minutes, stir, and roast for 30 more minutes until the squash begins to caramelize.
Serve the roasted squash with warm tortillas, cotija cheese, caramelized onions and cilantro.
Caramelized Onions: To make the caramelized onions, slice two onions and toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt. Spread onions on an oiled sheet pan, and roast at 350 degrees for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when a the onions begin to get a little bit crisp, and the onions taste sweet. Because the onions need to roast at a lower temperature, make these before you roast the squash.

Homeade tortillas: 55 cal/each 4" tortilla
Roasted Squash: 114 cal per 3/4 cup serving

Beef Stir Fry with Delicata Squash

2009-11-12T17:30:00.001-06:00

We have entered the season of the Winter Farm Share, and though we mourn the passing of the summer produce, the sheer volume of veggies coming into the house means that we need to step up the vegetable consumption. Last week we received the fall squash that I wait all season for - the delicata.

In my mind, the delicata is the perfect squash - it's small enough for a dinner for one, you can eat the peel, and it roasts up very quickly. All of that is enough to achieve squash perfection, but it is the sweet butternut-like flavor and super creamy texture that put it above all other squash in my kitchen.

I had some left over skirt steak from the cabbage stir fry the other night, so I knew I wanted to pair that with the squash somehow, but indecision plagued me again. I definitely wanted to roast the squash with some more chipotle puree, but wanted to stir fry the beef with a bit of asian flare. So, I did both, and put them all in a bowl together, and it was pretty delicious - and went a long way to cleaning out the crisper.

Beef marinade:
8 oz skirt steak cut into thin strips
1 clove garlic, minced
3 T sherry
1 tsp chipotle puree
pinch of salt

Combine above ingredients in a bowl and stir to coat the beef. Let it marinade while you roast the squash

Squash:
2 delicata squash, peeled and seeds removed, then cubed
1 clove garlic
1 T chipotle puree
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil spray

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a small sheet pan with olive oil. Combine the cubed squash, chipotle puree, garlic and salt in a mixing bowl and toss to coat the squash with the puree. Pour the squash onto the sheet pan and roast for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Stir fry:
1 T oil
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 onion
handful of brussels sprouts, washed and sliced in half
Beef from above

During the last few minutes of squash roasting, put the stir fry together. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil, and then add the beef in one layer. Cook for 30 seconds, then stir and cook for 30 seconds more before removing the beef from the pan and setting aside in a clean bowl. Add the onion and brussel sprouts to the pan, and saute for 3-5 minutes, until the onions soften and the brussels sprouts are nearly tender. Add the garlic to the pan, then add the beef and juices back to the pan and cook for 1 more minute.
Plate the dish by serving over brown rice, and serve the squash on the side.

Fiery Cabbage Stir Fry with Beef

2009-11-10T20:29:00.003-06:00

I think I mentioned just last week how much I love cabbage, right? Well, it's a very good thing that we do love cabbage in the Whole Kitchen, as we're pretty flush with it - 2 heads have been lurking in the fridge since the first of our Winter Farm Share deliveries last week. 2 heads of cabbage for 2 people is a LOT of cabbage - that stuff has volume. Slice up half a head for a stir fry and - whoa - it's suddenly 8 cups of veg! Thankfully the cabbage does lose a little volume in cooking, so even if you've got a small household, knocking out a head of cabbage in a week isn't too tough. And if you only use half a head at a time, the other half will keep for a few days if wrapped tightly in saran wrap.

Yesterday, as I was enjoying a rare November bike commute, I couldn't decide what to cook for dinner. I needed to handle the cabbage situation, but had a hard time deciding between the usual egg slurry, asian saute, or something a little fiery. In the end, I stood there at the stove, completely undecided, and came up with a smoky, Mexican flavored stir fry - and it was really the perfect dish after a hard ride home. The cumin and chipotles added wonderful flavor to the cabbage, and the stir fried beef added nice heartiness to the dish. And because I cannot pass up the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful liquid egg yolk with cabbage, I topped the bowl with an egg. It's a little bit decadent for a stir fry, but hey - after riding 22 miles, I can indulge!

Chipotle Beef Stir Fry
serves 2

5 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1/2 onion, sliced
8 oz skirt steak, fat trimmed away, sliced cross-grain into strips
2 T safflower oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup carrot, sliced thin
3 T chipotle puree
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
cilantro for garnish

Top stir fry with an over-easy egg (optional)

Take the thinly sliced skirt steak, and toss with 2 tablespoons of the chipotle puree and the 1 clove of minced garlic. Let it marinade while you chop everything else up.
Once you've got all the veggies sliced and tossed into a big bowl together, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is very hot, add 1 tablespoon of the safflower oil. Add half of the beef to the pan in one layer. Let cook for 30 seconds, then stir and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove the beef to a clean bowl, then cook the rest of the beef in the same way, then scoop out into the same bowl. Let the beef rest while you cook the veggies.
Rinse out the pan, dry it and return it to the burner, and re-heat the pan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and when it's hot and shimmering, add all the veggies, along with 1/4 tsp of the salt. Use tongs to toss the veggies with the oil. Let the veggies cook for a couple minutes, then stir. Cook for about 5 more minutes, until the cabbage begins to soften, then add in the cumin and another dollop of chipotle puree. Stir, and saute until the cabbage is nearly as done as you like it - I like my cabbage with a tiny bit of crunch left in it. Then, add in the beef and any juices in the bowl - mix the beef in with the cabbage, taste and adjust seasoning. If you want to be really decadent, serve with a perfect over-easy egg on top, and garnish with cilantro.

505 cal/serving, 280 cal from fat, 31g fat, 280mg cholesterol, 940mg sodium, 1140mg potassium, 24g carbs, 8g fiber, 13g sugars, 34.7g protein

Holiday Spiced Clove Ice Cream - Dairy-free

2009-11-08T12:20:00.003-06:00

I've been sitting here this Sunday morning with dozens of blogs open on my screen, trying to think about my 2nd ever Thanksgiving menu. But the problem is, it's 65 degrees and sunny out, I've got the windows wide open and it's an unseasonally beautiful day. The kind of day that makes it very difficult to think about warm, comforting holiday foods.

One thing I never have trouble thinking about is the next ice cream recipe, and this one came to me on a wet, chilly evening as I was walking home from the train. It's similar to my horchata ice cream, but warmed up for the holidays with ground cloves, candied ginger and some toasted almonds - this would be perfect alongside the pumpkin pie with gingersnap crust that I'm planning for Turkey day. Stay tuned for more turkey menu planning fun!

Spiced Clove Ice Cream
Makes about a quart

1 stick of canela (mexican cinnamon), crumbled
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2, 13.5oz cans of coconut milk (chaokoh is my brand of choice)
2/3 cups white sugar
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
1 T whiskey

Mix-ins: 1/2 cup thinly sliced crystallized ginger, 1/2 cup toasted, chopped almonds

Pour 1 can of coconut milk into a small saucepan, along with the sugar, pinch of salt and the crumbled canela and ground cloves. Stir, and heat the mixture until quite hot, but not boiling. Then, cover the pot, turn off the heat, and allow the spiced milk to steep for an hour. 
While the canela steeps, pour the other can of coconut milk into a medium sized bowl. 
When an hour has passed, use a fine mesh sieve to strain the milk into a clean bowl. Then pour the canela milk back into the small saucepan and re-heat until warm. 
Whisk the egg yolks in a cereal bowl, then temper the yolks by SLOWLY pouring the heated spiced milk into the yolks, whisking the entire time. Once you've poured most of the milk into the yolks, then pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan, and use a spatula to stir constantly over med-low heat as you create the custard. After about 10 minutes, the custard will get steamy and magically thicken and nicely coat the back of a spoon without dripping. 
Set your fine mesh sieve over the bowl with the second can of coconut milk in it and then pour the custard into the bowl. Stir the mixture together, then add the vanilla and whiskey. Chill overnight before turning in your ice cream maker. During the last 5 minutes of churning, pour the ginger and almonds into the ice cream maker.

250 cal per 1/2c serving, 130 cal from fat, 14.6g fat, 105mg cholesterol, 25mg sodium, 60mg potassium, 25g carbs, 22g sugar

Perfect Pintos

2009-11-07T19:30:00.007-06:00

I think the humble dried bean often gets overlooked in the US - cast off as too time consuming to cook or too boring, or peasant food. Me, when the weather turns cool, the first thing I do is replenish my stock of heirloom Rancho Gordo beans, and grab my dutch oven to make a comforting pot of beans.

And I'm going to tell you once again, that if you haven't tried the beans from Rancho Gordo - get on over to their site and place an order...these beans are head and shoulders above anything you get in a grocery store. Freshness matters in dried beans, and when you buy from your grocery, you don't know if they've been sitting in a warehouse or on a store shelf for 3 years. Fresh beans mean creamier beans - old beans can be chalky, even when fully cooked.

I'm happy to sit down to a simple bowl of beans for lunch, spiked with herbs or chipotles, maybe with some brown rice served alongside. These pintos are so creamy, and the broth is so flavorful, they are great all on their own. We used some of the leftovers and fried them up to fill some simple quesadillas.

Perfect Pintos
Serves 5

1/2 lb dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 bay leaves
1 cup homeade chicken stock (optional)
2 strips bacon
water
1/2 tsp kosher salt
chipotle puree to taste

Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl covered in at least 3 inches of cold water.
Heat a 3 quart pot over medium heat. When the pot is hot, add the bacon and cook until about halfway crisp, when some of the fat has rendered into the pot. Then, add in the diced onion, celery, bell pepper and saute until the veggies begin to soften - about 5 minutes. Then, add in the beans, chicken stock and enough water to cover the beans by about 2 inches. Bring the beans to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and gently simmer the beans for an hour or so, until done. Add in a spoonful or two of chipotle puree to season, then add in 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir, then turn the heat off and allow the beans to rest and soak up the salt in the broth for 30 minutes or so before serving.
If there is more broth in the pot when the beans are done than you prefer, ladle the broth off, and save it for another use - the broth is so flavorful, it shouldn't be wasted!

164 cal/serving, 50 cal from fat, 5.7g fat, 5mg cholesterol, 520mg sodium, 150mg potassium, 33g carbs, 18g dietary fiber, 4g sugars

Chipotle Cabbage Saute with Pork and Eggs

2009-11-03T20:44:00.002-06:00

I really meant to come home and tell you all about the amazing gluten-free dinner I had at Boka last night, but that will have to wait until later in the week, when I have enough energy to really pour out the love for the amazing meal and do it justice.

In the meantime, it's been quite a day...Chock-full of meetings, a wee bit on the stressful side, and I swear that the full moon has brought out all the techno-goblins to throw up road blocks at every turn. So after a mind-melting day, I was looking forward to unwinding a little in the kitchen this evening. The only problem was...I could not decide what I wanted to cook. So I started about three different dinners, not really knowing whether a stir-fry over brown rice, pork tacos, or a cabbage saute was going to win.

In the end, I think eggs will always win when I'm seeking comfort food...but instead of my typical cabbage saute with eggs, I took a little inspiration from my initial thought of tacos, and tossed in some chipotle puree, cumin and tomato sauce in with the cabbage and pork - and the result was fantastic. Mark remarked that this was his favorite cabbage dish so far - and we both love cabbage. The chipotles add a lovely smoky quality, and the lean ground pork added some nice heartiness to the dish. And when the unctuous egg yolks slither into the cabbage - oh my. You need to make this.

Chipotle Cabbage Saute with Pork
Serves 2

3 cups thinly sliced cabbage (red or green is fine)
1 cup sliced onion
2 T chipotle en adobo puree
1 T olive oil
8 oz ground pork
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
salt to taste

Top with 2 over easy eggs per serving , garnish with cilantro (both optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Break the pork apart and drop into the pan, and brown it until cooked through. Scoop the pork out of the pan, and set aside in a bowl. Wipe out the pan and return to heat.
Add the oil to the pan, and then add the cabbage and onion and a pinch or two of salt. Saute for a 3-4 minutes, until the cabbage just begins to soften. Add the cumin, cooked pork, chipotle puree and tomato sauce, and continue to cook, stirring every minute or so, tasting and adjusting the seasoning as you go - add more chipotle puree, cumin or salt as needed.
When the cabbage is tender and done to your liking, heat a small non-stick pan, and fry up a couple of eggs. Serve the over-easy eggs over the finished cabbage saute, and garnish with cilantro

559 cal/serving, 250 cal from fat, 27g fat, 520mg cholesterol, 800mg sodium, 290mg potassium, 27g carbs, 14g sugars, 52g protein

An Anniversary of Sorts

2009-11-01T13:53:00.000-06:00

Mark and I are not very good at celebrating the official anniversaries that mark our life together, though we do always remember to go to our favorite restaurant, Campagnola, for our wedding anniversary (and I'll tell you they really know how to feed me safely and well). The end of October is a different kind of anniversary, and one I am profoundly grateful for each year and every day.

This October we celebrated 7 years of gluten-free life. Seven years ago, a healer came into my life that distilled 25 years of nagging health issues into one simple prescription - stop eating wheat. Of course, the simple solution requires constant vigilance, and I did have to grieve the loss of my favorite pastries for quite awhile. But now...it's all good.

The nagging health problems and allergies are gone. The extra body weight - gone. I'm the happiest and healthiest I've ever been. I know how to feed myself well, and I love to share that food with our friends and with all of you. So thank you, dear readers for being a part of the journey.

And to celebrate this anniversary which was truly my re-birth, I've got a few new toys that will help me share more food and stories with you. Our old point-and-shoot digital camera has a bad case of dementia. He's getting confused easily, and takes video when I want to take photos, and the lens makes scary crunchy noises when you turn the camera on. A new camera was definitely in order.

My father-in-law offered us his old digital SLR camera, as he hadn't been using it much. We jumped at the very generous offering. It is a VERY nice camera, and it's going to take me some time to learn to use it properly, but WOW. Thanks, Dad. This camera is going to make my food look as good as it tastes.

Finally, I bought a Lowel Ego photography light to help with indoor shots, now that the sun has long set by the time I'm in the kitchen cooking. That big black thing in the left side of the frame below is the light, mounted on a tabletop tripod. The light provides bright, cool light and seems to be making even a humble plate of pasta look AWESOME.

So, happy 7th Gluten-Free anniversary to me! We're not suffering in the slightest by eating gluten-free, and we very much enjoyed our bowls of Tinkyada Brown Rice pasta with my homeade tomato sauce for lunch today. I'll be continuing the celebration tomorrow night at Boka for my first Safe & Sound Dinner hosted by my dear friend Lisa Williams, with a special menu designed specially for our group of allergenistas!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

2009-10-31T14:41:00.002-05:00

Brussels sprouts seem to be a much maligned vegetable - they don't get a lot of attention, but to me, they are one of the many gems of the fall harvest season. I can remember that when I was a kid, my mom and I were the only ones that would eat them, so she would cook them up with some butter, salt and pepper and serve them in little bowls along with pork chops and Mom's awesome fried apples. I used to call them "little shrunken heads." Even though I would eat them as a kid, I know I didn't appreciate them as I do now.

Cabbage, and all of the brassica family of vegetables (cabbage, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, brussels), are among my favorite veggies - I love their versatility, as they soak up whatever flavors you cook them with, and they generally make for economical meals. If you claim to be a brussels sprout hater, I do encourage you to try this recipe - Mark and I love these. Go to your farmer's market and get some sprouts before the season passes.

Cooking them up is pretty simple, and employs my favorite quick sear/steam method that I picked up from Cook's Illustrated - those folks know their veg. Garnished with a few grates of parmesan, this side dish is the perfect savory side dish.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Serves 2

3 cups brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, outer leaves removed, and cut in half
3 slices of bacon, chopped
1 T reserved bacon fat
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp black pepper
fresh grated parmesan for garnish

Heat a large skillet (that you have a lid for) over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp. Scoop out the bacon and drain on a paper towel. Reserve 1 T of the bacon fat in the pan, and pour the rest of the bacon fat off into your bacon grease container in the fridge (you do save your bacon fat for future use, right?).
Return the skillet to medium heat. When the pan is hot, swirl the pan to get a light sheen of fat over the whole surface. Pour the brussel sprouts into the pan, and turn them all so that they are cut-side down. Let them cook this way for exactly two minutes. Meanwhile, pour 1/3 cup warm water into a measuring cup and add the salt - stir to dissolve.
After the 2 minutes are up, shake the pan to toss the sprouts around a bit. Pour in the salted water, and cover the pan. Cook for 2 more minutes. Then, uncover the pan, add in the garlic and cooked bacon, stir, and cook for 1 more minute, or until the sprouts are tender, but not mushy. Pour the sprouts out onto the plates and garnish with parmesan cheese.

236cal/serving, 140cal from fat, 14.5g fat, 5mg cholesterol, 710mg sodium, 16g carbs, 12.3g protein

Lamb Stew with White Beans

2009-10-28T17:31:00.001-05:00

So, here's another lovely cold-weather stew. You could say this this is a re-run of my beef stew from March, and be completely in the right. But, this one has lamb - which makes it different, right?!

Okay, maybe it's not totally different, but like most people, my kitchen hosts a lot of rerun dishes, and this one is definitely welcome on our table anytime we have all the ingredients on hand. The truth is, the weather is turning cold, and we're in the waning days of our summer farm share, which leaves us with oodles of root vegetables in the crisper. Our meat farm share also supplies us with wonderful stew meats this time of year, so lamb stew is a natural. I promise you, that if you make this one, you won't be disappointed...and it's even better the next day for leftovers!

Lamb Stew with Cannellini Beans
Serves 6

1lb lamb stew meat, cubed, trimmed of fat
4 strips bacon, sliced
1 Tb olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
1 T fresh rosemary, minced
6 oz red wine
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 lb dry runner cannellini beans, cooked and drained
2 large carrots, peeled and cubed
3 bay leaves
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups tomato sauce (homeade, or jarred pasta sauce)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup water
salt & pepper to taste
parsley or cilantro for garnish

Beans
1/2 lb dry runner cannellini beans
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 carrot, sliced in half
2 bay leaves

Cooking the Beans:
Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl, covered with 3 inches of water. To cook, pour beans and soaking water into a pot, add half an onion, 3 cloves garlic, carrot and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until beans are mostly done, but still slightly al dente - about a hour and fifteen minutes to 2 hours, depending on how fresh your beans are. Set cooked beans aside.

Stew:

Heat a large dutch oven on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes. Add sliced bacon, and saute until semi crisp. Remove bacon from pot and set aside. Leave 1 tablespoon of fat in the pot, pour out any excess (or save the bacon grease in a storage container in the fridge, as I do). 
Season the cubed lamb with salt and pepper. Add half of the lamb in one layer to the pot with bacon fat and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Remove lamb and set aside, then add remaining beef to the pot and sear. 
Remove remaining lamb from the pot and set aside. Add 1 T olive oil to the pot, then add the leeks, carrot, celery and saute, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. After 2 minutes, add the garlic, rosemary and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the red wine, stir and cook for another minute or two. 
Next, add the chicken stock, bell pepper, beans, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes and lamb. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. After an hour, remove the lid, turn the heat up a touch, and reduce the liquid in the stew until it becomes a delicious red gravy, about 20 minutes. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. Chop up a handful of parsley or cilantro, and stir in at the last moment, then dish it up.

368cal: 90cal from fat, 9.9g fat, 80mg cholesterol, 1110mg sodium, 440mg potassium, 33g carbs, 8g fiber, 32g protein

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

2009-10-25T20:13:00.004-05:00

I have to make a confession. As much as I love the foods of the fall harvest season, I am incredibly picky about the squash I eat. I love butternut, delicata and spaghetti squash. I do NOT love pumpkin and acorn squash, and I struggle to use them up every time they appear in my CSA box. Which makes me feel bad, since Kevin seems to love the pie pumpkins so much. I usually end up feeding half the squash we receive to the dog, as he has seasonal allergies, and some roasted squash puree helps his tummy out a lot.

Earlier this week, Kevin posted a recipe for pumpkin black bean soup, and I thought this was something I could get behind, as is seemed a straight-forward black bean soup with some pumpkin puree added for some body in the soup. And I have to agree with Kevin, that the finished soup is excellent. It has all the zing of my typical spicy black bean soup, but the pumpkin adds a nice earthy, grounding note to the finished soup. Give it a try!

Pumpkin and black bean soup
Adapted from Closet Cooking
serves 6

1 T oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 banana peppers, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ground cumin
1 T chipotle puree
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
2 cups roasted pumpkin puree
1 (19 ounce) can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup dry Sherry (or dry white wine)
1 handful cilantro (chopped, optional)
1 cup diced lean ham (optional)
1 handful toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven
Add the onions, carrots and banana peppers and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the broth, pumpkin, black beans, tomatoes and sherry and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and puree to the desired consistency - I like my bean soups to stay pretty chunky, so I only puree with my immersion blender for a minute or so. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Add the diced ham (if using).
Serve garnished with cilantro and toasted pumpkin seeds.

344 cal/serving; 60cal from fat, 6.4g fat, 20mg cholesterol, 770 mg sodium, 960mg potassum, 52g carbs, 13g fiber, 20g protein

Pear Crisp

2009-10-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

Aside from ice cream, fruit crisps are probably my favorite dessert. Fruit crisps are a crunchy, crumbly, buttery dessert with seasonal fruits that are meltingly soft from roasting and fragrant with your favorite baking spices. I remember learning to bake my first crisp when I was a teenager, from my mom's well loved, spiral-bound Betty Crocker cookbook - you know the one - bent pages, spattered with food from years of cooking. My brother and I both learned to bake from Betty.

But after going gluten-free, I struggled for a few years with trying to bake gluten-free - there were many failures, stuff that was dry, crumbly and honestly - tasted like dirt. Today, there are so many more gluten-free flours and mixes and honestly GOOD products and recipes, that I have much more confidence when I do decide to bake. There are also so many of us out here now blogging about living gluten-free, that I can always turn to my online friends - Shauna, Betsy, Elana, Lisa, and many others, who offer their own recipes and help me craft ideas for my own. It takes a world of gluten-free bloggers to come up with great, gluten-free baking recipes and to test all the products out there!

This is perhaps the best crisp I've made yet. Rather than doing the usual thing of using 2-3 different flour blends, I tossed a half cup of pancake mix into the crisp, and it was perfect! The pancake mix added a bit of sweetness, and along with the butter, helped hold the crumble together very well. We devoured this crisp in a couple days, and hope that I find some more bargain-priced bruised pears at the farmer's market to make more crisp this weekend!

Pear Crisp
Serves 5, 1 cup per serving

5 large ripe Bartlett pears, diced into bite-sized pieces
4 T cold butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
3 T maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix
1/2 cup Gluten Free Oats

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 10x10" square baking dish. Dice the pears, and toss them into the greased dish. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and drizzle 1 T of the maple syrup over the pears, and stir with a spatula to coat.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the pancake mix, brown sugar and oats and stir to combine. Then, chop the cold butter into small pieces and scatter the butter over the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it becomes crumbly. Then, drizzle the last 2 T of maple syrup over the dry ingredients, and work in a bit more, until you've got a slightly moist, buttery concoction.
Using your fingers, spread the crumble loosely over the pears, then bake for 45-60 minutes, until the pears are soft, the crumble topping is golden brown, and the kitchen smells of pears and spices. Allow the crisp to cool for 20 minutes, before serving. If you have some vanilla ice cream on hand, you know what to do.

377 calories per serving, 90 cal/fat, 10.4g fat, 25mg cholesterol, 120mg sodium, 300mg potassium, 73g carbs, 9g fiber, 45g sugars, 3.4g protein
Daily Burn nutrtional info

Cold Curatives: Eat your Veggies & Drink Your Tea

2009-10-21T11:28:00.006-05:00

Doesn't it always seem like colds swoop in at the least convenient time? There's never really a good time to have a cold, but two days before you're giving a couple of workshops at a weekend conference...is not a good time for a cold. Nevertheless, I've got one. And I am doing my homeopathic best to get rid of it - NOW.

So, I thought I'd give you a peek behind the curtain and share with you what I do to get rid of a cold. And it's NOT chugging NyQuil and its ilk - that stuff is poison. I mean that sincerely, too - it is a serious drug. But also because of a secondary immune disorder that I have in addition to celiac disease, I cannot take any non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (advil, ibuprofen, aspirin, alleve) - and most every cold med has some form of NSAID in them. That leaves me with more natural remedies, and generally, they work just as well as anything the pharmacy has.

First, I went to see my beloved Network Chiropractor, Dr. Liz, who helps balance my body and spirit, and is always ready with a kind word and additional homeopathic support for anything that's got my body down. After seeing Dr. Liz, my golf ball sized lymph nodes immediately deflated by half, and I knew I'd sleep better for having seen her.

As soon as I feel my lymph nodes inflate, I do the normal things - Vitamin C, zinc, water, herbal teas (peppermint with licorice root is my favorite). Wanting to get as many vitamins in my body as possible, I roasted up a bunch of sweet potatoes with garlic, olive oil, rosemary and a dab of chipotle puree. I then sauteed up a big bunch of mustard greens with yet more garlic, and served both with some leftover chile-scented brown rice that I had in the fridge. I made enough sweets and greens to hold me over for a couple days of healing eating, so I don't have to spend a lot of time at the stove.

Now, my real vitamin boost comes from making my own live, raw juices. I don't drag out the juicer nearly enough, and I somehow forget how much I love raw juices...probably because cleaning the juicer is a real pain in the ass. But anyhow, when I'm sick, I go for a basic carrot, apple, celery juice - about a pound of carrots, 1 apple, 1 stalk of celery and a small knob of ginger create 1 cup of immune boosting juice. And I fully expect that with this regime I'll be back to feeling well tomorrow.

And in the meantime, with a day at home, it's the perfect opportunity to make a big pot of chicken stock, and roast up some squash for soup for the weekend.

Update: 24 hours after my first sneeze, and a day of raw vegetable juices, sweet potatoes and greens, I feel pretty great. Still a tiny bit of nasal congestion, but no sinus pressure, no runny nose, cough, and I have a good amount of energy! Get yourself a juicer, people!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Chipotles & Garlic
Serves 3

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 T chipotle puree

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and place your sheet pan in the oven while it preheats.
Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss to coat. Remove the hot sheet pan from the oven, and spray lightly with olive oil. Pour the sweet potatoes onto the tray in one layer, and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Stir, then roast for another 10 minutes before serving.

196 cal/serving, 40cal/fat, 4.8g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 450mg sodium, 600mg potassium, 37g carbs, 6g fiber, 8g sugars, 2.8g protein
DailyBurn Nutritional info

Peppermint Licorice Root Tea
Makes 2 cups

2 T loose, organic peppermint tea
1 T loose licorice root
Boil water, pour over tea leaves and steep for 12 minutes, then strain and serve.

Have you ever had Aveda's soothing, minty tea? This is the very same thing, at only a fraction of the cost. I LOVE peppermint tea, and the licorice root gives it a slight bit of sweetness with NO sugar. I order my loose tea in bulk from the lovely folks at Culinary Teas in Indiana. And after you drink your tea, you can dump the leaves into a large bowl, pour more boiling water over them, throw a towel over your head, and use the mentholated steam to help clear congestion. See how healing peppermint is?

Roasted Chicken with Apples, Leeks and Rosemary

2009-10-17T16:06:00.002-05:00

How good can a recipe with 5 ingredients be? Turns out - very good. Our friend Debbie sent this one to us, declaring that it was awesome, and since I had all the ingredients in the house, including a half-chicken defrosting in the fridge, I gave it a whirl. The most challenging skill required for this one is mincing rosemary and coring a few apples - if you can handle that, you're covered.

And as simple as this recipe is, it's definitely ready for prime-time dinner with friends - the presentation is elegant, and the flavors are the best of fall - mellow, roasted leeks, herb scented chicken with perfectly crisp skin, and soft, sweet apples. Something magical happens to the apples in the roasting. I would never have thought to combine apples and rosemary before, but the combination of the two was incredible - the rosemary added a lovely savory note to the dish.

Apple Rosemary Chicken
from Real Simple
Serves 4

Half a chicken, separated into 2 pieces - breast & leg
4 small crisp apples (such as Empire or Braeburn), quartered
2 leeks, halved crosswise and lengthwise
6 small sprigs fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 400° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet (or in a large roasting pan), toss the apples, leeks, rosemary, oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and nestle, skin-side up, among the apples and leeks.
Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the apples and leeks are tender, 40 minutes.

287 calories per serving; 110 cal/fat; 12.7g fat; 80mg cholesterol; 550mg sodium; 330mg potassium; 21g carb; 3g fiber; 12g sugar

Concord Grape Sorbet

2009-10-14T21:02:00.004-05:00

Sorry about the double-ice cream posting this week, but I wanted to get this one out there in case you might want to pick up a bunch of grapes and whip some of this up while grapes are in season.

One of my favorite fruits of fall is the humble concord grape. Often overlooked at the farmer's market, I'd highly recommend picking some up since the grape season is so fleeting in the midwest. But mostly, tart, pungent grapes remind me of my grandfather.

Grandpa kept a big garden, and I have fond memories of picking strawberries (and mostly eating them) when I was little. And in the fall, I loved to wander into the grape arbor and eat the very tart grapes right off the vine. I would squeeze the grapes out of their skins and pop the slimy, tart center straight into my mouth, making the back of my jaw twinge just a little. I still love eating grapes that way, though I've no grape arbor to pick them from.

But instead of just snacking on the grapes this time, I decided to try out a grape sorbet - and I am so glad that I did! David Lebovitz has a recipe in the Perfect Scoop, but I didn't have quite enough grapes for his recipe, so I tossed in a cup of blueberries, which are always nice in a sorbet, as they add a smoothness to the finished sorbet. The finished sorbet tasted simply of fresh purpley grapes, and I think I'll be making at least one more batch of this before the grapes disappear from the vines and markets.

Concord Grape Sorbet
Makes 3 cups
1/2 cup serving: 90 cal, 27g carbs, 20g sugar
DailyBurn full nutrition info

1 1/2lbs concord grapes, stems removed
3 T water
3 T light corn syrup
1 cup frozen, unsweetened blueberries
squeeze of lemon juice
1 T vodka

Pour the grapes into a medium saucepan along with 3 T water, and heat over medium while covered. Cook until grapes have fully softened, have burst and let out most of the juices - about 10 minutes. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl, and strain the grape juice into the bowl, pressing to get all of the juice out. Discard the seeds and skins, and pour the grape juice into the blender. Add 1 cup of frozen blueberries and the 3 T light corn syrup, and puree until smooth. Add the vodka. Pour into a storage container to chill thoroughly, then churn in your ice cream maker.

Marathoner's Special: Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2009-10-12T16:29:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to all of our friends and American Cancer Society Charity Runners who ran the Chicago Marathon on a chilly 38 degree Sunday morning! I am definitely inspired by all who ran, especially our friend Jeremy who got three of his siblings and his dad to come into Chicago and run the marathon together - amazing! And our ACS Charity Runners are an incredible group - we had over 650 runners Sunday morning, who raised nearly $1 million to further our work in helping patients and research new treatments and cures. Bravo!

Several months ago, we gathered at one of our favorite neighborhood spots, Uncommon Ground, to celebrate our friend John's birthday. We scored the big common table by the windows and had a grand evening of food and conversation. At the end of the meal, we shared a few desserts around the table, and the definite favorite dessert for a few of us was their salty peanut gelato.

I'd been meaning to try my hand at peanut ice cream all summer, I just never got around to it. And inspiration finally struck on Thursday evening. This ice cream is about as simple to make as they come - dump everything in a blender and whiz until smooth, chill, churn. If you want to get super-fancy (and trust me, you do), make up a batch of chocolate covered peanuts, and mix those into the finished ice cream. And I have to say - my ice cream might just be better than Uncommon Ground's - and it's dairy-free.

This is truly about as decadent as ice creams come - it's a fat-on-fat treat, with salty and sweet flavors that hit my sweet spot. I could eat a small dish of this ice cream every night, but I won't - because that simply wouldn't be good for me. I ended up taking most of this ice cream to our "Early Thanksgiving" feast with all of our friends on Saturday night, and it seemed to be a hit all-around. And if you really want to eat a big dish of this one - you might need to get out there and run a marathon first! It's high-calorie, but oh-so worth it.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Makes 1 quart 8 servings DaliyBurn Nutritional info Highlight the two lines below if you REALLY must see the nutritional info (I warned you!):
593cal per 1/2 cup, 400cal from fat, 45g fat, 36g carbs, 130mg sodium, 350mg potassium, 4g fiber, 13g protein

1 cup fresh ground peanut butter (no sweetener/salt added)
2 cans coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 T vodka
Chocolate covered peanuts:
2/3 cup roasted peanuts
3 oz chocolate chips

Making the peanuts:
Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, or in the microwave if you have a "melt" setting. When the chocolate has melted, pour in the peanuts and stir to coat. Turn the covered peanuts out onto a small piece of parchment paper, and spread out into one layer of peanuts. Stash the chocolate peanuts on the parchment in the freezer to harden until you're ready to churn the ice cream. Then, chop the peanuts into small, bite-sized pieces.

Making the Ice Cream:
Pour all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste, and adjust seasoning - adding a bit more salt, if needed. Chill thoroughly and churn in your ice cream maker. When the ice cream is done churning, mix-in the chocolate covered peanuts as you scoop the ice cream into your storage container, making sure to distribute somewhat evenly.

A note on peanut butter: I used the grind-it-yourself peanut butter from Whole Foods, that contains nothing but peanuts. If you don't have this option, just go for one of the natural jarred peanut butters that contain nothing but peanuts and salt, and then just reduce the amount of salt in the recipe.

Breakfast on-the-go: Egg Muffins

2009-10-11T09:38:00.004-05:00

I haven't done a breakfast post in awhile, so I thought I'd resurrect an oldie but goodie for a weekend post. Two years ago Mark's eccentric doc told him to lose some weight, and to try the South Beach diet. Being the nutritional nerd that I am, I picked up the book to see what it was all about. We did the first two weeks of torture where you eat no carbs or fruits (not eating fruit was SO hard!), and then transitioned into the more moderate plan. We both lost about 20lbs, but come summer fruit season and biking season, I couldn't do it anymore. My body needs complex carbs. I eat steel-cut oats for breakfast nearly every morning, love my brown rice, and when I'm biking 22 miles a day, I need some carbs for fuel.

So, South Beach wasn't for us in the long-term, but it did bring down Mark's weight and cholesterol quite a bit, and given how much I cook at home, we do pretty well, health-wise, and I don't worry about my carbs/sugars so much, just watch what I eat on a more global scale. But there are a few recipes from the South Beach era that have stuck with us, and these egg muffins are one of them.

These little muffins are a quick, portable breakfast for busy mornings - whip up a batch on the weekend, and you just need to grab one in the morning, microwave it for 30 seconds to heat them up, and you've got a good breakfast in hand. I usually combine one egg muffin with a granola bar or piece of fruit for a full breakfast. You can also make these with all egg whites, or a mix of whites and whole eggs as I tend to do, since I always have leftover egg whites from making ice cream base.

Since these are pretty much like crustless quiches, you can toss whatever meat, cheese, and veggies you have lying around the house into the cups. I'm not going to post the whole recipe here, as Kayln has written the recipe so well, it seems a shame to re-write her instructions.

Egg Muffins
123cal/muffin, 70cal from fat, 7g fat, 5g carb, 1g fiber, 105mg cholesterol
Daily Burn nutritional info for recipe

Full Recipe on Kayln's Kitchen

My muffins contained: 3 slices bacon, crumbled, 2oz grated cheddar, Sauteed veggies: diced red potatoes, bell pepper, onion, spices.

The muffins keep very well in the fridge for about a week, just tuck them into sandwich bags.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Bacon Chipotle Vinaigrette

2009-10-07T06:04:00.003-05:00

On our first day in Denver, my brother took us up to Boulder for the afternoon. We didn't have any particular agenda in mind, just to wander Pearl street, and visit some of the wonderful shops there. After we'd wandered around and worked up an appetite, it was time for a late lunch.

Mike took us to his favorite brewpub, Mountain Sun. We'd been there before on our last visit and remembered it as a friendly, homey spot with good food, and good beer for the boys. I was a little more anxious on this visit, as my gluten sensitivity has become quite severe, and eating out can be a real challenge. Mountain Sun was packed when we arrived, as it was also the first day of Great American Beerfest, and the beer geeks were there supporting their favorite establishment and talking brew. But once we snagged a table, I was very pleasantly surprised with the care that our very busy server took to ensure that I would eat safely.

I ordered a spinach salad topped with roasted butternut squash with a warm bacon-chipotle vinaigrette, and topped with fresh feta cheese. It was amazing, and if I could have licked the plate I would have. I knew that when we arrived home, I'd have to make this salad soon, so that I'd have the recipe on file. I made a few changes - making it a bit meatier for Mark, and roasting the squash with a bit of bacon fat, herbs and some chipotle puree. I didn't have any spinach (which would have been my preference), but we did have some beautiful romaine on hand from our farm share that fit the bill nicely. Next time you're looking for a different twist on a dinner salad - give this one a try!

Spicy Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
Serves 2
700 cal per serving, 30g fat, 69g carbs, 38g protein, 6g fiber, 2000mg sodium, 680mg potassium

Half a butternut squash, peeled, cored, and cubed into 1/2" pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 strips bacon, cooked, chopped and fat reserved
2 tsp chipotle puree
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
4 cups of romaine lettuce, torn
1oz feta, crumbled
3oz cooked chicken breast, cubed (optional)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
olive oil spray for cookie sheet

Dressing:
1 T warm bacon fat
1 T champagne vinegar
1 T stone ground mustard
1-2 tsp chipotle puree, to taste
1/2 tsp maple syrup
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 450, turn on the convection if you've got it. Meanwhile, slice the squash in half, lengthwise. Cover half with saran wrap and stash it in the fridge to cook another evening. Peel the half you're going to use with a wide Y-shaped peeler, then scoop out the seeds and guts. Slice the squash lengthwise into 1/2" wide slices, then cube the squash into bite-sized pieces.
Toss the squash into a medium sized bowl, and pour 1tsp of bacon fat over the squash, and toss to coat. Add the rosemary and garlic, 1-2 tsp chipotle puree, salt, and stir to coat. Spray a sheet pan with olive oil, and pour the squash onto the sheet pan in one layer. Roast for 20 minutes, stir, and roast for 20 more minutes.
While the squash is finishing roasting, make the dressing. Combine all the dressing ingredients (make sure the bacon fat is warm, so it's liquid), and whisk. Taste, and adjust seasoning - if it's too tart, add a bit of olive oil to smooth it out a bit.
When the squash is done, and a bit carmelized at the edges, assemble the salad. Toss the greens with the dressing and pile the lettuce on the plates. Top with the bacon, feta, chicken and squash, then dig in!

Horchata Ice Cream - dairy free

2009-10-04T16:17:00.004-05:00

Last night we had a gathering of food bloggers at our house, including 3 gluten-free bloggers! Emily and I talk food all the time at work, specifically Rick Bayless' Mexican food. Rick is our go-to man, and there's nothing that we've cooked from his books that we didn't love. So one day while chatting, we came up with the idea of having a Rick Bayless Fest, and then we decided to invite some other local bloggers whose blogs we enjoy reading.

So with that plan, we had 5 food bloggers in our home last night, and WOW - did we eat well! And I have to apologize, as we were so busy talking shop and eating, that we did not pause for one photo - of us, or our food! Bad bloggers! Lisa brought some spicy chicken tostadas and homeade salsa, Emily brought salsa verde and ceviche, Stacey and Jon brought black beans with mango and quinoa, Betsy brought some amazing margarita cupcakes. I made an achiote braised pork shoulder with homeade tortillas for tacos, and horchata ice cream.

I was thinking ahead in the afternoon when I made the ice cream, and snapped a few pictures when the ice cream was done churning. This ice cream is light, airy, dairy-free, and has a lovely cinnamon flavor. I made the ice cream using cannella, also know as Mexican cinnamon. Cannella is softer than Chinese cinnamon, so it's easy to crumble up to steep for the ice cream, but the scent of cannella has me hooked. Cannella has a very floral aroma, that almost reminds me of my favorite Market Spice tea, with the almost orange blossom-like note to the fragrance. Give this ice cream a try if you're a fan of horchata or cinnamon.

Horchata Ice Cream
Makes about a quart
1/2 cup serving: 333 calories (190 from fat), 22.6g fat, 120mg cholesterol, 25g carbs, 22g sugar, 2g protein

3, 5" sticks of canela (mexican cinnamon), crumbled
2, 13.5oz cans of coconut milk (chaokoh is my brand of choice)
3/4 cups white sugar
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 T vodka

Pour 1 can of coconut milk into a small saucepan, along with the sugar, pinch of salt and the crumbled canela. Stir, and heat the mixture until quite hot, but not boiling. Then, cover the pot, turn off the heat, and allow the canela and milk steep for an hour.
While the canela steeps, pour the other can of coconut milk into a medium sized bowl.
When an hour has passed, use a fine mesh sieve to strain the milk into a clean bowl. The pour the canela milk back into the small saucepan and re-heat until warm.
Whisk the egg yolks in a cereal bowl, then temper the yolks by SLOWLY pouring the heated milk into the yolks, whisking the entire time. Once you've poured most of the milk into the yolks, then pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan, and use a spatula to stir constantly over med-low heat as you create the custard. After about 10 minutes, the custard will get steamy and magically thicken and nicely coat the back of a spoon without dripping.
Set your fine mesh sieve over the bowl with the second can of coconut milk in it and then pour the custard into the bowl. Stir the mixture together, then add the vanilla and vodka. Chill overnight before turning in your ice cream maker.

A Tumble into Autumn: Beef Vegetable Soup

2009-09-29T19:38:00.007-05:00

It seems that fall has come to Chicago while we were playing in Denver with my brother and sister-in-law last week. The roaring winds have arrived, to knock the leaves from the trees, and waves crash upon the beach to lull us to sleep.

While I love fall, and all of the wonderful harvest vegetables - after a sunny, warm week in Colorado, it all feels like a bit of a shock. I came home from my first day back at the office chilled to the bone from a cold bike ride, and sorted through the bits and bobs in the crisper to pull together the first soup of the season. Lucky for me, I had everything I needed on hand for the perfect pot of beef vegetable soup.

But just to remember the beautiful days in Denver, here are a few photos from our day hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Mike & Lisa took us to the top of the mountains - above 12,000ft - and we went from 80 degree temperatures at their house to 45 degrees and hiking up a slope in the snow to stand in some fierce winds on top of the mountain. It was awesome. Next time I'll forgo the sandals for proper footgear for a walk in the snow, though!

Mark and I by the side of the road, with a breathtaking view of the mountains behind us.

After a chilly stroll in the heights of the mountains, we came back down to a quiet valley and took a walk, just as the sun was crossing the mountains, providing that perfect late afternoon golden light. On our way back from this hike we saw a couple of elk grazing, and later spotted many more on our drive out of the park.

It was a perfect vacation, and I may have to hold onto the memories of our sun-filled days in Colorado to make it through the long Chicago winter ahead. In the meantime, there is soup. A hearty vegetable soup can comfort and thaw chilled bones in a few spoonfuls.

Beef Vegetable Soup
Serves 7
220 calories per serving, 70cal from fat, 8.3g fat, 35g carbs, 20mg cholesterol, 720mg potassium, 700mg sodium, 4g fiber, 10g sugar, 14.9g protein

1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 stalks celery, diced
1 quart stewed tomatoes
2.5 cups chicken stock
2.5 cups water
3 cloves garlic
1 beef soup bone, about 1lb
1 cup fresh corn (from about two ears)
2 cups diced red new potatoes (about 4-5 small potatoes)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 T dried basil
1 T minced fresh rosemary
1 T dried oregano
red pepper flakes to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving, optional.

Put 1 tablespoon oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring, until onion softens, about 10 minutes or so.
Add dried and fresh herbs and garlic. Cook, stirring, for a minute or two, then add the potatoes, chicken stock, water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so mixture bubbles gently. Cook, stirring every now and then, until potatoes are tender - about 45 minutes. Add the sweet corn, and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt, pepper and additional red pepper flakes if desired.
Use tongs to remove the soup bone from the pot and set aside to cool for a couple minutes. Then, trim off any remaining fat, and remove the meat from the bone, shredding it into bite-sized pieces. Add the beef back to the pot, and serve with a bit of grated parmesan over each bowl.

Heading West

2009-09-23T18:00:00.002-05:00

Aren’t those rocks breathtaking?! We took that pic at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado when we were visiting my brother at Thanksgiving in 2007…and we haven’t had a chance to visit him since. So, we’re trading in the flat lands and Lake for a long weekend in the mountains to hang out with Mike and Lisa. There is certain to be good food (Mike has promised to make homeade chili with house-smoked pork shoulder!), excellent company, and much beer tasting as Mark will be heading to Great American Beer Fest while we’re out there. Oh, and did I mention the good music?! We’ll be seeing one of our favorite bands, Carbon Leaf, along with a very new favorite Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers…if you’re looking for some new tunes, I highly recommend them both. And if they’re coming to your town, check them out – they both put on a fantastic live show.

I also hope to get some good hiking in while we’re out West, to fill my spirit with a dose of mountain beauty. While I love Chicago, my soul still misses the beautiful mountains of the North Cascades and Holden Village where I lived in 1999.

In my absence, maybe you’ll check out some of the very fine blogs of my friends in the “Delicious Reads” section to the right. I’ll be back next week to share a bit about our travels, and what we’re eating upon our return.

Roasted Pear Ice Cream - Dairy Free

2009-09-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

I love pears. Barletts are my favorite - perfumey, soft and so juicy that the sticky juice runs down your hand as you bite into them. A second pear fact is that they do not travel well on bike. I was SO careful, packing them on the very top of my cargo bag on my way home from the farmer's market on Saturday, but all of the re-paving and road construction were conspiring against me in my hopes of getting home without bruising the precious cargo.

By the time I returned home, I could see that 5 of 10 pears were beginning to bruise, and would need to be dealt with immediately. And what's a girl to do with bruised pears, except make ice cream! I decided on a roasted pear ice cream, very similar to my roasted banana ice cream. The roasting amplifies the essence of pear, and makes them even sweeter. Once they've been roasted, just pour all the ingredients into the blender, and whiz it up until smooth, then chill and turn in your ice cream maker. Simple, right?! Now go make some - no excuses!

Roasted Pear Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
1/2 cup per serving
285 calories per serving, 14g fat, 39g carbs, 4g fiber, 30g sugar

5 medium, ripe Bartlett pears, cored and cubed
1 cup brown sugar
1 can coconut milk
squeeze of lemon juice
2 T brandy

Mix-in
1/2 cup pecan pieces
2 T maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350. Core and cube the pears into 1" pieces, no need to peel. Toss the pears into a pyrex pan, and sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over the pears, and mix briefly to combine. Bake the pears for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the praline pecans: Place the pecan pieces on a small sheet pan, and toast for the last 15 minutes of pear-roasting time. When they're toasty, drizzle the maple syrup over them, and stir quickly to coat. Turn the pecans out onto a small piece of parchment, and place in the freezer, until hard. Then, store the pecans in a storage container in the freezer until you're ready to make the ice cream.
After 40 minutes of roasting time, remove the pears from the oven, and pour into the blender along with the coconut milk, squeeze of lemon juice and remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Puree until very smooth, then pour into a storage container. Add the 2 T of brandy and stir, before you put in the fridge to chill for a few hours, or overnight.
Turn in your ice cream maker, adding the praline pecans in the last five minutes of turning. Pour the finished ice cream into a storage container and stash in the freezer to firm up.

Borlotti Beans with Andouille and Collard Greens

2009-09-20T15:06:00.002-05:00

The photos of food seem to be piling up fast on my computer, without me having time to tell you about all of them...it's a sad state of affairs, as we've had some very tasty meals lately. The early fall harvest season provides some of the best eating all year - we've still got plenty of summer berries and peaches at the market, plus the heartier fall veggies are starting to come in.

This week, our farm share contained a HUGE bunch of collard greens. I enjoy greens, but Mark is still a little more hesitant to declare his love for the heartier greens of fall, so I knew that I wanted to sneak them into a dish that he would otherwise be delighted to eat (ie: anything with bacon). Actually, Mark's main complaint about collards and kale are that when cooked on their own, they cool rapidly on the plate, and he doesn't like them when cool, which is a reasonable enough request. My beloved husband *never* complains about anything I cook, and happily eats pretty much anything, so I think I can work with him on his preference for warm greens.

This recipe takes a little planning ahead, since you've got to soak the beans the night before you plan to cook, but once everything is in the pot, it's a pretty low-fuss dinner, and makes quite a lot, and is great leftover for lunch.

Borlotti Beans and Greens
Serves 7 as a main course, served over rice (about 1 cup of beans)

269 calories, 4.9g fat, 1.6 g sat fat, 15mg cholesteron, 540 mg sodium, 530mg potassium, 41g carbs, 15g fiber, 19g protein, 15% calcium, 17% iron
Rice: 200cal/cup, 44g carbs

1/2 lb Rancho Gordo Borlotti beans, soaked overnight
2 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
2 links Wellshire Farms Turkey Andouille sausage
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 T reserved bacon fat
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
red pepper flakes to taste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup fresh oregano, minced (or 1 T dried)
1 bunch collard greens, washed, ribs removed, and cut into bite size pieces
salt & pepper to taste

Serve over rice

Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl, covered by at least 4 inches of water.
Cooking the beans: heat a heavy pot on the stove over medium heat. Slice the andouille into 1/3" slices. Add the andouille to the pot and saute briefly, to brown. Remove the andouille and set aside. Add the chopped bacon to the now empty pot, and cook until moderately crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon set aside to drain on some paper towel. Pour off all but 1 T of bacon fat and return the pot to the heat.
Add the onion and bell pepper and saute for 5 minutes or so, until the onions begin to soften. Add the oregano, paprika and garlic to the pot, and stir for another minute, until fragrant. Add the drained, soaked beans, chicken stock, water, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, bacon and andouille sausage. Stir, bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, and simmer the beans uncovered for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beans are meltingly tender, and the pot liquor thickens slightly. You want there to be some liquid left in the pot, but not watery. Season to taste with salt & pepper (a scant 1/2 tsp should do it.)
Right before you're ready to serve, fold in the chopped collard greens, stir, and simmer for another 15 minutes with the lid on to steam the greens. Serve over rice.

This dish is even better the next day, so if you plan ahead enough, skip adding the greens if you'll be storing overnight in the fridge, and then just reheat and add the greens the next day, when you're ready to serve.

Julie and Julia Inspiration: Aioli

2009-09-15T19:58:00.004-05:00

This weekend, I was on my own, as Mark was out of town. I love having a weekend all to myself, all possibilities open to me...which means that I make grand plans of all the things I'm going to get done around the house. And then, I ditch all the "chore-like" activities on the list, and spend most of the weekend in the kitchen. No surprise, right?!

Saturday morning, Turbo (the greyhound) and I got up early for a long walk on the beach at sunrise, which allowed me time to make the plan for the day. It was the perfect late summer morning to sit on the beach, listen to the waves and feel the sun's first light as you think about what form the day will take. And I decided that the day would begin with a bike ride to the farmer's market. I spent the rest of the morning making gluten-free rosemary tomato bread and 2 batches of my granola bars.

By afternoon, I was looking for a little break, so I biked to Evanston to go see "Julie & Julia." If you loved Julia Child, food, or if you are a food blogger - go out and see this film before it leaves theaters. I remember watching Julia Child on PBS when I was a kid, and a few dinner parties where my parents and their best friends cooked fancy meals from Julia's cookbook. Meryl Streep was absolutely magical as Julia and truly captured Julia's offbeat charm. I laughed and smiled throughout the whole film.

As for the "Julie" part of the film, I read the blog in 2003 as Julie was was writing it for Salon.com, and thinking that I could never muster the dedication to cook every recipe in an entire cookbook - let alone WRITE about them all...and I still think that. However, as a newbie food blogger, I definitely identified with the obsession of creating new recipes and content for the blog. I've been doing this blog for 10 months now, and I'm always thinking about what I can share with you next.

After the movie, I was inspired to cook something French...but I'm not much for the precise techniques and high butter content of French cuisine....when I remembered a post from David Lebovitz (who blogs about his life in Paris) about making homeade garlicky aioli. Perfect! Aioli is simply homeade mayonnaise made with egg yolk and olive oil, and flavored with whatever you like - I made mine with raw garlic and some basil. The aioli came together beautifully in about 5 minutes, and then I grilled up some albacore tuna, made a green salad, and drizzled aioli over all of it. Maybe it's not the healthiest meal, but it is perfectly delicious.

Aioli
makes about 2/3 cup
serving size: 2 Tablespoons, 6 servings per batch
168 calories, 18g fat, 35mg cholesterol, 0 carbs, 0 sugar

1 very fresh egg yolk (locally raised if you can get it)
1 small garlic clove
1 T minced basil
1 pinch salt
olive oil (about 1/2 cup)

Place the garlic clove in a mortar and pestle with the pinch of salt and bash it into a smooth paste. Add the basil to the garlic, and bash that into a paste.
Place the egg yolk in a bowl, add in the garlic basil mixture and begin to whisk. Drip the oil in slowly as you whisk (and I really do mean drip - this must be done slowly for the emulsion to hold) constantly. I ended up adding about 1/2 cup of olive oil before I decided that it resembled mayonnaise, and tasted to my liking.
Serve over fish, chicken, green salad, or simply dip fresh veggies into the aioli for a simple appetizer or lunch.

An Epic Meal: Slow Roasted Pulled Pork

2009-09-12T21:21:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday, we had perhaps my best home-cooked meal of 2009 thus far...a meal that was epic in its preparation, requiring 9 hours in the oven, but well worth heating up the kitchen all day. The meal was a low and slow-roasted pork shoulder, lovingly coated in BBQ spices, shredded and served on (my first!) homeade corn tortillas, with a red cabbage coleslaw, homeade salsa and some of our favorite "green bag" tortilla chips. It was an awesome meal.

When I began to ponder how I wanted to prepare the pork shoulder that was in the freezer, I had really planned to do a Rick Bayless chile braised shoulder, but then I had the fortune of catching a re-run of a Bobby Flay Pulled-Pork Throwdown on the Food Network. After 30 minutes of watching pro pitmasters, I wanted some BBQ of my own! So, the plan changed, and I coated the meat in the spice rub Friday night, to let it rest in the fridge and soak up those flavors overnight.

I was up early Saturday morning to get the roast in the oven for the 9 hours of roasting. By 11am, the house smelled like a good smokehouse, and it was probably a good thing that we spent most of the afternoon outside on our bikes, so I didn't have to salivate all afternoon smelling the wonderful BBQ roasting in the oven.

The finished pork shoulder was deep black and very crusty, but when I took a fork to it, it was pink and perfectly tender and moist inside. When shredded, with the crust of the meat folded in, it was hard to stop snitching pieces of pork while we waited for our dinner guests to arrive.

At the last minute, I whipped up a fresh batch of my homeade BBQ sauce to drizzle over the tacos, which was a perfect match. I also made my very first homeade tortillas for the meal, and with encouragement from Emily, as well as our friends who joined us for the meal, I knocked out a successful batch of tortillas, and they were far better even than the excellent locally made tortillas we usually buy. Homeade tortillas are a thing of beauty - bursting with fresh roasty corn flavor and chewier texture, which holds up nicely in a taco. If you're looking for an easy, slow cookin' kind of meal, give this one a try!

Slow Roasted Pulled Pork
Adapted from My Husband Cooks
Serves 8

 3.5 lbs. pork shoulder (bone in) 
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup kosher salt
 1 T chili powder 
1 T cumin 
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 T smoked paprika

Recipe for my BBQ sauce

To make the rub, thoroughly mix together the brown sugar, salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes and cayenne.
Pat dry the pork shoulder and then liberally apply the rub to all sides. Place in a leak-proof container. Cover and refrigerate for as long as 24 hours, or as little as overnight. It will give up a cup or more of liquid so make sure your container is big enough to prevent spillage.
Remove the shoulder from refrigerator, brush off any excess or caked on rub. Move to a clean roasting pan with the fat side up.
Heat the oven to 275F. Place in the oven and let roast for 9 hours. Yes, I’m serious about it taking that long. After about 3 hours, there will be enough fat rendered to allow you to baste the shoulder every 1 to 2 hours. With a large spoon simply pour the rendered fat over the shoulder.
You will know it’s ready because the outside of the shoulder is extremely dark, nearly burned looking. The pork should pull easily from the bone and the fat/skin on the top should be nearly crispy.
Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 30 min. Using a pair of forks or very clean hands pull the pork away from the bone. This should be very easy to do.
Serve with homeade tortillas and topped with homeade BBQ sauce.

Good Mother Stollard Beans

2009-09-09T20:15:00.005-05:00

You know what's crazy?! You, and about 200 other people have been reading my blog each month, and some of you I do not even know personally. It's wild! When someone stops to tell me that they've cooked one of my recipes - it's thrilling. That someone would like my recipes enough to try them out for themselves - that is the highest praise. Thank you for being here, for reading my words, and continuing to encourage me to keep on posting. If I could hug each and every one of you, I would reach through the computer and do so. And now, back to the regularly scheduled blog post...

A good potful of beans is an endlessly variable thing - the kind of hearty food that is more flavorful the next day, and can be adapted in just about any direction to add to whatever meal you're planning. You all know by now how much I love Rancho Gordo beans, and so this recipe uses their Good Mother Stollard beans. Look at those gorgeous beans, with their burgundy zebra stripes - how can you not love them?!

I can assure you that they are every bit as tasty as they are beautiful. This is a bean that I never get tired of, and that when cooked up simply with just a few aromatics, can stand alone as a bean soup, because the pot liquor is so flavorful and thickens just a bit as the beans cook. And the finished beans are plump and soft, and take on the flavor of the onion, garlic and spices beautifully. I'd planned to eat these beans alongside some BBQ pulled pork, but they were equally good mashed into a quick refried bean and folded inside the teff quesadillas. I had thought there would be leftovers after the pulled pork dinner...but they disappeared from the pot, which is a very good sign!

A Potful of Beans
Serves 6-8 as a side dish

1/2 lb Good Mother Stollard Beans (Rancho Gordo)
1/2 white onion, diced
1 thick strip of bacon, chopped (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 T Mexican oregano, crumbled
1 tsp chipotle puree
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Soak the beans overnight in a large glass bowl, covered in at least 3 inches of water.
When you're ready to cook the beans, heat a 3qt dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon to the pot, and saute until some of the fat has rendered, but the bacon is not yet crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Add the onion to the bacon, and saute for 5-6 minutes, until the onions begin to soften, then add the garlic and stir for 1 more minute. Pour in the beans and their soaking water. Add the bay leaves, mexican oregano, cumin and smoked paprika and stir.
Cover, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat so that the beans are gently simmering. Simmer until the beans are nearly done, about 1 1/2-2 hours, depending on how fresh the beans are.
Once they're nearly done, swirl in a spoonful of chipotle puree if you'd like a little extra heat, and then add the 1/2 tsp salt. Turn the heat off, and let the beans cool for 30 minutes, uncovered. While they rest, they'll soak up the salt. Serve the beans as is, with some of the pot liqour, or spoon some out and mash them to make re-fried beans.

The End of Summer: Freezer Inventory

2009-09-07T20:50:00.003-05:00

Even if Labor Day is not the official calendared end of summer, it always feels that way. Labor Day weekend still puts me in the mind of heading back to school, new school supplies, warm sweaters for chilly days, brilliant fall colors, and spending afternoons in the sun "studying" on the banks of the Red Cedar at Michigan State. Riding through the bustling Loyola Campus this afternoon made Mark and I particularly nostalgic about the magic of fall afternoons on campus.

One certain sign of the end of summer, is our jam-packed freezer. If I could change one thing about our lovely condo it would be a tough choice between having in-unit washer & dryer, or having a chest freezer, so I could squirrel away more treasures of summer for the cold winter days. Even so, our new fridge has a much larger freezer than I've had since moving to Chicago, so I make the most of it...and by the looks of things, my summer hoarding is complete! I may squeeze another quart or two of corn in there, but I think I've stocked away just about as much as I can, and anything else that needs preserving will have to be canned. And FYI, you will find no boxed products, Lean Cuisines or any type of processed food stuff in my freezer - it's all local/homeade for us - we are lucky, indeed!

So, in the tradition of the fascinating study of celebrity fridges on the MTV show "Cribs," Here's what I've got stored away for winter:

1 gallon of whole strawberries
4 pint bags of sliced strawberries in simple syrop
4 pint bags of sour cherries in simple syrup
2 gallons of cubed rhubarb
2 quarts of green beans
3 pints of strawberry rhubarb puree
2 gallons of blueberries
4 quarts of sweet corn
3 gallons of sliced peaches
2 quarts of pesto, individually wrapped in 1/4 cup servings
4 pint bags of oven roasted roma tomatoes
2 pints of tomato sauce (1st canning failure of the season)
2 quarts of chicken stock (a constant "must have")
assorted meats from our CSA
gallon bag of veggie trimmings and chicken carcasses for next pot of stock

What have you stockpiled in your freezer?

DIY Energy Bars: Dashew Bars

2009-09-07T10:01:00.007-05:00

Most of us who are gluten-free struggle with eating on-the-go. Living an active, busy lifestyle that is also gluten-free requires a lot of planning ahead, so that you don't get stuck somewhere with an empty stomach and nowhere safe to eat. I usually have a handful of nuts or a homeade granola bar stashed in my bag wherever I go, and any of our family and friends could tell you that when I stay at their homes, I often fill the fridge with my own food upon arrival. My reactions to gluten are getting much more severe as I get older, so I try to minimize gluten risk as much as possible when outside my home. It's a good thing cooking is one of my passions, as life wouldn't be nearly as much fun or flavorful otherwise.

I've recently begun to follow Bernice Mast (@gfveg) on Twitter (you can follow me there as well @jennsutherland). Bernice is the Gluten Free Examiner, and posts lots of good resources and recipes for GF folks. A couple days ago she reposted a favorite snack item to twitter - her "Dashew" bars. They're a simple energy bar with dates and cashews, and WOW - are they good!

I've added coconut and cinnamon to Bernice's recipe, and the bars are going over very well in our house. Mark said that they tasted like the "tank tracks" Oatmeal Cookie Bars in the Army MREs (meals ready to eat). Apparently, those were a sought after item, and probably better than they sound. But these two-bite little wonders are extremely tasty, and will give you a little energy boost when you need it. Because these are calorie dense little buggers, cut them small, and wrap them individually in waxed paper, so you will be less tempted to eat them all in one afternoon. I actually cut them about a third smaller than in the photo above, and the finished bars are about 2x2", and 1/3" thick. Give these simple bars a try next time you need a portable snack.

Dashew Snack Bars
Serves 12
97 cal, 5.3g fat, 9g sugars, 2,1g protein, 12g carb

4 oz cashews, unsalted, raw
4oz dates, pitted
1/2 cup dried coconut, unsweetened
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread the cashews on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Add the coconut to the sheet pan, and toast cashews and coconut for another 5-8 minutes, until both coconut and cashews are a toasty golden color. Take them out of the oven, and then set them aside on a cooling rack to cool.
When the cashews and coconut have cooled, add all ingredients to your food processor. Process until the mixture is ground fairly fine, and begins to ball up into a thick paste. Line a small baking sheet with parchment. Turn the paste onto the parchment paper, and press the bars together into about 1/3" thick sheet. Fold the parchment overtop the bars, and press very firmly to evenly distribute the mixture to form nice, uniform bars.
Stash the sheet pan in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes, then remove and cut into 2" blocks. Wrap in waxed paper and store in the fridge for an easy to grab snack.

International Bacon Day: BLT

2009-09-05T19:16:00.003-05:00

Today is International Bacon Day. Did you know that? I didn't either, until I logged into Twitter this morning, and @glutenfreechef notified me of this noble celebration of pig. So, it was my duty to work some bacon into our day, and we went with the classic BLT, with a twist. And I have to confess that this was my first BLT since going gluten-free seven years ago, and I don't know why I waited so long, but I think I'll be re-running this meal before the weekend is out.

I baked some basil-rosemary gluten-free bread on Friday from the wonderful Pamela's bread mix. If you're new to the gluten-free life, and missing your carbs, give Pamela's mixes a try - you won't feel sad about missing baked goods anymore. My gluten-eating husband will happily eat Pamela's breads, and the dough takes very well to herby additions.

Gorgeous heirloom tomatoes and a bunch of arugula came in our CSA this week, and local bacon from Wisconsin was in the fridge - the B, L, and T were now accounted for. We added just a twist to the traditional BLT with the addition of a fried egg on the sandwich. As I devoured the sandwich, tomato juices ran down the outside of my hand - the classic sign of a BLT done right. Served with a couple ears of Michigan sweet corn, this was the perfect meal of summer. Now go out and celebrate International Bacon Day for yourself!

Chimichurri Sauce

2009-08-31T20:52:00.002-05:00

Today was one of those perfect crisp fall days that we get in the midwest - only it's still summer! Nonetheless, with the sun shining and a chill in the air, it was a perfect evening to grill. I had some beautiful NY strip steaks thawing in the fridge while I was at work today, and knew that they wouldn't need much to dress them up a bit.

Looking through my mostly empty fridge, as we'd been in Michigan this weekend and didn't get home in time to hit the grocery, I discovered a bag of parsley hiding in the back. I quickly decided to whip up a small batch of chimichurri sauce to drizzle over our steaks.

If you've never had this Argentine sauce, you must give it a try. It elevates even the humblest of steaks to something truly delicious. It's also brilliant tossed with some warm red potatoes for a quick potato salad, or even with some crunchy sliced cucumbers. Add a bit more olive oil, and make a true vinaigrette and toss it with some butter lettuce for a green salad. Chimichurri is endlessly variable, and delicious in all its incarnations. The sauce itself is slightly tart from the vinegar, spicy from red pepper flakes, garlicky, and the parsley provides the earthy basenote. It was a particular treat to spoon this sauce over some perfectly grilled NY strips - not bad for a Monday night dinner!

Chimichurri Sauce
Serves 3
66 calories per serving, 6.8g fat, 1g carb

1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
1 clove garlic , peeled
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 1/2 T red wine vinegar
1 T water
2 T red onion, finely minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Process parsley and garlic in a mini-prep processor, or a big food processor, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, until garlic and parsley are chopped fine. Transfer to a small bowl. Whisk in remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended. Drizzle a couple spoonfuls over grilled and sliced steak, or toss with some crisp cucumbers, or toss with some cooked red potatoes for a quick salad.

Spicy Salsa Green Bean Salad

2009-08-27T21:14:00.002-05:00

I know you've already heard me say this (and if you read my friend Emily's blog, you've heard it there, too), but Rick Bayless is my culinary hero. It was thrilling to see him with Top Chef Masters last week - not just because he was a gracious competitor, but because his food is top notch, and just as deserving of adulation as all the prissy French food that seems to win on these shows.

And just when I thought I couldn't love Rick anymore - they toss in a gluten-free, vegan challenge! Rick embraced the challenge (unlike another chef), and knew exactly how to handle it, mentioning that his daughter is gluten-free. Given that Rick's specialty is Mexican food, cooking gluten-free isn't all that difficult, and I've dined very happily and safely in his restaurants. But still - to handle restricted diets with grace under fire - I heart Rick Bayless forever.

Tuesday nights at our house often provide interesting meals. We receive our farm share box on Wednesdays, so I've usually got an odd assortment of veg left in the crisper that need eating. This week, the leftovers included a small bag of green beans. It was a warm night, and we were having steak tacos for dinner, so I wanted a cool, crisp salad to go with the meal...and wouldn't you know it - Rick Bayless had a simple green bean salad recipe for me!

This salad is delicious, and comes together in a matter of moments. It has some nice tartness from the lime juice, and a little heat from the salsa. Toss in a handful of cilantro and sliced onion, and you've got a fine salad! We had a little leftover, and the salad was even better the next day, as the beans tasted a bit pickled - yum!

Green Bean Salsa Salad
Serves 3
109 calories per serving, 6g fat, 11g carbs, 2g protein

3 cups green beans, ends trimmed and cut into pieces
1/3 cup tomatillo or red salsa (I used homeade chipotle tomato salsa, but jarred would work fine, too.)
juice of one lime
2 T grapeseed oil
salt
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

Bring a pot of water to boil, and blanch the beans for 2 minutes. Then, scoop up the beans with a wire basket and plunge them into an ice water bath to stop them from cooking further. Once they are cooled, drain the beans in a colander and set aside.
Combine the salsa, lime juice and grapeseed oil in a small bowl - season with salt to taste.
Place the beans in your serving bowl with the sliced onion, pour on the dressing, and toss to coat. Taste, and adjust seasoning again if needed. It's good to make this an hour or so before you plan to serve it, so the flavors have a little time to marry.

Grilled Peaches with Balsamic Glaze

2009-08-24T20:07:00.003-05:00

I think I have a new favorite dessert - and it's healthy! Grilled peaches with balsamic glaze have been popping up on food blogs and in magazines for awhile now, and I have no idea why it took me this long to give it a try. I love peaches, and always have a few ripening on the counter this time of year.

Grilling the peaches not only makes them all warm and a bit melty, but concentrates the flavors of the lush fruit. The balsamic glaze adds a layer of puckery sweetness, and the basil adds a green earthiness to balance the whole dish. I could have eaten all four of those peach halves, they were so good. Next time I'll toss an extra peach on the grill, so I can have some leftovers on my breakfast cinammon quinoa. Try this one out while the peaches are still in season!

Grilled Peaches with Balsamic Glaze
Serves 2, 69 calories per peach

2 peaches, halved and stones removed
4 T balsamic vinegar (the cheap stuff is fine)
2 tsp brown sugar
1 T fresh basil, sliced very thin

Oil the grill area where you will be grilling the peaches. Preheat the grill to blazing hot. Place the halved peaches on the grill facedown. Grill for 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour the vinegar and brown sugar into a small pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce until it gets syrupy and will coat a spoon. Turn off the heat and set aside. Roll the basil leaves up into a cigar shape, and then thinly slice (the chefs call this "chiffonade").
Take the peaches off the grill and drizzle with the balsamic glaze and sprinkle basil over the peaches. Enjoy!

Smoky Tomato Pasta

2009-08-23T12:08:00.004-05:00

It's been a busy week for me, between a crazy week at work and having friends over for dinner a couple times this week, so I haven't really produced much for the blog. Today, I awoke early to can 30lbs of tomatoes into stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. I'm always amazed at how a HUGE box of tomatoes cooks down to a much smaller volume of tomato products.

Home canning isn't really an economical enterprise in the city, given the produce prices and time invested, but I did my first canning projects last year, and using my own stewed tomatoes in soups cannot be beat! Homeade stewed tomatoes have SO much more flavor than what you'd buy in a can. I got 8 quarts of stewed tomatoes and 5 pints of tomato sauce out of the 30lbs of tomatoes. Now, I'm just sitting around waiting to hear the magical popping sound of the cans as they seal - it's the most nerve-wracking part of the process!

Thursday evening, I was supposed to go out to a movie with friends, but given that my workday started at 6am with the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Kickoff Breakfast, and I didn't sleep well the night before, I decided that I wasn't up to movie-going, and needed a night to chill at home. So, I looked around the kitchen to see what I could whip up quickly, and came up with this simple, smoky pasta....it was just the comfort food I needed after a long day. The smoky bacon and cheese played off the acidic tomatoes perfectly. A bowl of pasta and a glass of wine enjoyed on the balcony were just the antidote I needed to unwind after a long day.

Smoky Tomato Pasta
Serves 1
600 calories per serving, 23g fat, 74g carbs

2 slices bacon, chopped, cooked and 1tsp fat reserved
3 oz Tinkyada brown rice pasta shells
1/2 cup sliced white onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 oz grated, Goat Smoked Cheddar Cheese
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the rice pasta according to the directions - Tinkyada can take 12-14 minutes to cook through. While the pasta cooks, assemble the sauce.
Chop the bacon and saute in a small pan until mostly crisp. Scoop out the bacon and drain on a piece of paper towel an set aside. Pour off most of the fat, but leave 1tsp in the pan.
Add the onions to the bacon fat and saute for 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften. When the pasta is about 3 minutes from being done, add the garlic to the onions and saute for 1 more minute. Add the thyme and sliced tomatoes, and saute for 1 more minute, until the tomatoes begin to wilt a bit.
Drain the pasta and fold it into the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the grated goat cheddar and toss to combine, adjusting seasoning if needed.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

2009-08-20T20:08:00.004-05:00

It's time to talk tomatoes. They're FINALLY in season, about a month later than normal due to the cool, wet summer we've had. And the not so patient waiting has made me want to gobble up tomatoes at every meal. We've gotten some beautiful heirlooms in our CSA that have become a favorite snack - sliced and sprinkled with a bit of sea salt and fresh ground pepper, eaten over the sink with the juices running down my chin. Tomatoes and sweet corn are the tastes of summer for me.

I bought a quart of romas at the market on Sunday, and while I'd originally planned to make oven-dried tomatoes with them, I decided to go for a roasted tomato sauce instead. This sauce isn't so much for pasta - it's brimming with chunks of celery and bell pepper, and honestly, I'm not a huge fan of celery in my pasta. But this sauce is the perfect flavor base for a pot of hearty minestrone or wild rice and vegetable soup. Since this is not hearty soup season, I canned the sauce and tucked it away in the pantry for winter.

Roasted Tomato Sauce
Makes 2 1/2 pints

1 1/2 quarts roma tomatoes
4 sprigs rosemary, minced
7-8 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
1 T olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced small
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup celery leaves, minced (optional)
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the Roma tomatoes in half, lengthwise. Mince the rosemary and sprinkle it over the bottom of a full sheet pan. Place the sliced roma tomatoes on the sheet pan, cut side down, in one layer. Toss 7-8 cloves of garlic, unpeeled onto the sheet pan. Sprinkle the tomatoes with the 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.
Roast the tomatoes for 40 minutes, then carefully remove the pan from the oven, trying not to slosh hot tomato juices on the floor, and set the pan on the counter. Cover the sheet pan snugly with aluminum foil, and allow the tomatoes to steam for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the tinfoil and use a fork to remove most of the skins from the tomatoes - if a few bits of skin won't come off, don't worry about it. Squeeze the garlic out of their peels - the garlic should easily squirt out when squeezed.
Pour the tomatoes, juices, herbs and garlic into a 2 quart bowl. Let it cool for a few minutes, then wash your hands and then squish up the tomatoes with your fingers until you have a chunky tomato sauce. Wash your hands, then set the tomatoes aside.
Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then saute the onion, bell pepper and celery for 5-10 minutes, until the onions are translucent and softened. Pour in the tomatoes and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30, until the celery is softened. Add in the basil, stir, and you're done. Enjoy your tomato sauce, freeze it, or can it for winter storage.

Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream

2009-08-16T20:38:00.006-05:00

I'm convinced that David Lebovitz is an evil genius. His latest Caramelized White Chocolate ice cream recipe is a testament to his desire to see my waistline increase so that I need to unbutton my pants after dinner as I spoon his delectable creations into my mouth.

When I saw this recipe, I simply could not resist. And the occasion of my parents coming out for a weekend visit seemed celebratory enough to indulge in such a frivolous indulgence of delicious calories. This is probable the most decadent ice cream I've ever made, and will definitely give you a sugar buzz. But because it's so rich, you really don't need to eat much of it to be satisfied. This will likely be my go-to dessert for awhile for celebrations. It's rich, creamy, and I love the toasty, caramelized flavor of the roasted white chocolate.

I wanted to follow David's advice about using a higher quality white chocolate for this recipe and I knew that I could get blocks of Callebeaut White Chocolate at Whole Foods, so I called up Callebeaut USA, to ask if their chocolates were gluten-free. I was in luck - I talked to a very helpful customer service rep who verified that their chocolates would be safe for me - hooray! I did make a couple of alterations to David's recipe since I'm trying to stay away from dairy, so I just used coconut milk in the custard base. And I added 1 T of vanilla, because white chocolate and vanilla are beautiful together.

Because this ice cream is so rich, I've been serving it up with just one scoop, with another scoop of the ginger-peach ice cream on the side, and a few fresh raspberries thrown in, just because they're so perfect this time of year.

Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
adapted from David Lebovitz
Serving size: 1 small scoop, about 1/4 cup
160 calories, 11g fat, 16g carbs, 1.5g protein

8 ounces caramelized white chocolate
2 13.5oz cans coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
3 large egg yolks
2 T vodka

Mix the warm caramelized white chocolate in a large bowl with 1 can of the coconut milk, and set a mesh strainer over the top.
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the 2nd can of coconut milk, sugar, vanilla and salt.
Whisk together the egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in half of the warm milk, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof utensil, until the mixture thickens and coats the utensil.
Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the white chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Put the bowl in an ice bath, and stir until cool. Stir in the vodka.
Chill thoroughly in the fridge, then churn in your ice cream maker.

Peach Ginger Ice Cream - Dairy Free

2009-08-12T20:13:00.003-05:00

I don't know who came up with the peach-ginger flavor combination first, but whoever put them together is a genius! I bought a quart of peaches at the farmer's market on Saturday, knowing that I wanted to turn them into ice cream, once they'd fully ripened.

Peaches in season, and locally grown are one of my favorite fruits - I love when you walk into the kitchen and catch a whiff of the perfectly ripe, perfumey orbs. The town where my parents grew up, Romeo, Michigan, has a Peach Festival every year. I have fond memories of going to the Peach Parade with Grandma and Grandpa, and then digging into some warm peach cobbler or peach pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The Peach Festival also had a carnivale, but Mom & Dad never told us about that, so I didn't learn about that until I was a teenager and my first boyfriend and I went to the carnivale! But now that I'm an adult, I'd skip the carnivale, too - peachy desserts are far better than some carny rides.

As I was making this ice cream base, it needed a bit of brightness, so I squeezed in the juice from half a lemon, which really sharpened the flavor of the fresh peaches...but then I started thinking about a spicy note, and ginger was just the thing! I added about a tablespoon of fresh ginger to the ice cream base when I made it, but after it sat in the fridge overnight, the coconut milk swallowed most of the gingery flavor, so I added another tablespoon or so of fresh ginger right before I churned the ice cream. I also added a small handful of chopped crystallized ginger right at the end of the churn, and that added a lovely, chewy ginger note to the finished dessert.

Peach Ginger Ice Cream
Makes a little more than a quart
203 calories per 2/3 cup serving

5 large, ripe peaches
2/3 cup sugar
1 can coconut milk
2 T fresh grated ginger
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
2 T good quality tequila
juice of half a lemon

Place a medium pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Place a few peaches at a time into the boiling water for 1 minute, then remove the peaches and peel them when they're cool enough to touch. Slice the peaches into chunks.
Place the peaches, coconut milk, sugar, tequila and lemon juice in the blender and puree until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the fridge.
When you're ready to churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker, grate 2 T fresh ginger right into the base, stir and then churn. (If you add the ginger right when you puree everything up, the coconut milk will mute the ginger flavor while the ice cream base chills. When the ice cream is just about done turning in the machine, add the chopped crystallized ginger to the ice cream and let it churn for a minute more before you stash the finished ice cream in the freezer.

Smoky Corn & Bacon Chowder

2009-08-11T20:54:00.003-05:00

Whitney in Chicago made my day today. Around lunchtime, she posted to twitter about a new blog post with her recipe for corn and bacon chowder. The rest, as they say, is history. I ran across the street to the Prudential Plaza farmer's market and picked up some celery and chives to go in the soup. I had some peppered Neuske's bacon at home in the fridge, along with a few ears of corn and some german butterball potatoes from Nichol's Farm.

Local, wild celery is crunchy mid-summer treat, and if you've never purchased celery from a local farmer - try it soon, while it's still in season. Local celery has an intensity of flavor that the stuff you buy in plastic bag will never have. And the leaves of celery are also a nice addition to soups and stocks, to add another layer of celery goodness.

I changed up Whitney's recipe just a bit - using corn flour instead of wheat flour, chipotle puree instead of chipotle powder, and omitting the greek yogurt garnish, to keep it dairy-free. The finished soup is spectacular. The smoky spice of the chipotles and bacon plays perfectly against the sweetness of the corn, and the burst of acidity from a few spoonfuls of diced sungold cherry tomatoes. This is the perfect soup of summer, and I think we'll have a few more pots of this gem before the sweet corn season passes.

Smoky Sweet Corn & Bacon Chowder
Serves 7 (if you don't eat two bowls, which is hard resist)

4 ounces of bacon, (about 5 slices) diced
1 large onion, diced
5 celery ribs, diced
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 cup minced celery leaves (optional - if your celery doesn't have leaves, don't worry about it)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle puree
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh-cracked black pepper
3 medium-sized potatoes, cubed
3 tablespoons corn flour (if you're not gluten-free, just use regular flour)
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup of water
4 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob - reserve a couple of the cobs

Garnishes:
minced chives
a few crumbles of bacon
diced cherry tomatoes

Saute the bacon in a large soup pot until mostly crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel and set aside. Drain all but 1 tablespoon bacon drippings from the pot (save in a jar to stash in the fridge). Return the pot to the stove, turn the heat up to medium. Add the onion, celery and stir to coat the vegetables with the oil. Cook until onions are translucent, and begin to soften - about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook another five minutes, until the potatoes have just begun to soften. Add all of the herbs to the pot, and stir. Turn the heat down to low and sprinkle the corn flour over the vegetables. Stir and cook for 5 more minutes.
Add the chicken stock, chipotle puree and water. Add all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon to the soup. Next, stir in the corn kernels. Finally, add the reserved corn cobs to the soup (which will help flavor and thicken the broth). Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
Before serving, remove the corn cobs, taste, and adjust the seasoning of the soup, adding a bit more salt if necessary. Garnish each bowl with the reserved bacon, minced chives and a spoonful of diced cherry tomatoes.

Bill's Potato Salad

2009-08-09T10:18:00.003-05:00

Mark and I have returned from a wonderful week of camping with all of our friends in Tofte, Minnesota. This was our second year camping at Bill & Colleen's place, and it has become our favorite week of the year. The beauty of the mountainous Northwoods, overlooking sparkling Lake Superior make the busyness of city life melt away, and Bill & Colleen's incredible hospitality make for a very relaxing vacation.

A week offline in the woods with friends felt both like a much longer break than a week, and as if it went by in a heartbeat. For me, visiting with Bill & Colleen is an amazing respite, as they really understand how to cook safely for me, and go out of their way to ensure that all of the meals they cook are gluten-free, which is an incredible gift. Bill also has some severe food allergies, so they really "get" how to prepare meals without contaminating them for either of us.

One of our group's favorite dishes by Bill is his potato salad. I was lucky enough to be hanging around the screen house when Bill was making his signature potato salad this year, so I watched his technique closely so that I could replicate the salad when I got home. One of Bill's secrets is the simple cooking of the potatoes - he uses red, waxy potatoes, and boils them whole for 10 minutes, then lets them rest in the hot water for 30 minutes to finish cooking. This technique produced perfectly cooked, firm potatoes, with no water-logging. The dressing is pretty traditional and studded with liberal amounts of celery seed to really bring out the celery flavor. Bill & Colleen also serve the salad with a jar of celery seed at the table to sprinkle on more seeds if desired. I deviated from Bill's recipe just a bit by omitting the pickle relish (didn't have any), and spiking the dressing with some finely minced garlic and lemon juice.

Potato Salad
serves 6-8 as a side dish

2lbs red potatoes
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 T celery seed
1/2 cup mayo
juice of half a lemon
2 T brown mustard (I like Gulden's)
1 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
salt & lots of pepper to taste

Scrub the potatoes, leaving the skins on. Place the potatoes in a big pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the potatoes sit in the hot water, covered for 30 minutes. Then, pour the potatoes into a colander to cool. Once cool, rub the skins off with a towel and dice the potatoes into bite-size chunks.
Making the dressing:
Combine the mayo, celery seed, lemon juice, worchestershire, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Taste and adjust flavorings as needed.
Place the cubed taters and diced celery in a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing overtop, and gently mix to coat the veg in the dressing. Stash the finished salad in the fridge for few hours before serving so the flavors can meld. Add more celery seed before serving.

Gone Camping...

2009-07-30T21:08:00.002-05:00

Doesn't that river look inviting? I think that is swimming hole #3 or #7 near Tofte, Minnesota, and that's where Mark and I are headed tomorrow afternoon for a week of relaxation and camping with dear friends. So, the blog will be quiet here for awhile as I take a much needed break from work. And before we leave tomorrow afternoon, there is much cooking and preparing to do so that I ensure that I can eat safely both on the road and while we're there. I'm grateful that our friends are so understanding of how I need to eat, and our friend Bill has other food allergies, so we're a well-prepared group of cooks.

While I'm away, might I suggest that you wander over to some of my other favorite food bloggers and writers? I promise you that with the company of the ladies below, you will be well-fed while we are away. See you in a week!

The View from the 32nd Floor
Whitney in Chicago
Chik n' Pastry
Bread & Honey
Gluten-Free Girl
Smitten Kitchen

Stuff on Rice: Chorizo, Chick Peas and Chard

2009-07-29T21:44:00.004-05:00

Being a member of a CSA requires some creativity and improvisation to get through the whole box each week before the next one comes. The only thing lingering in the crisper on Tuesday night this week was a few spring onions and a big bunch of chard. I had some cooked chick peas leftover from the cabbage salad last week, and a package of locally made Mexican chorizo in the fridge. Bringing them all together in one pot - genius! Chick peas go so well with the spicy flavor of the sausage, and the chard wilts into the pot beautifully, and will give you the impression that this dish is health food...and I'm all for making chorizo healthier!

I made a quasi-Mexican rice by scooping a half cup of homeade salsa into the rice cooker, and adding a teaspoon of Southwest seasoning. The rice was nicely spiced, without getting sticky, as rice can sometimes get when you add a lot of tomatoes to the cooking liquid. And the best thing about the dish - it made lots of leftovers for lunches this week. Give this one a go for a low-maintenance midweek meal.

Chorizo Chick Peas & Chard
Serves 6
333 calories per serving (including 3/4 cup brown rice), 12g fat, 42g carbs

1lb fresh Mexican chorizo
1 medium onion, sliced
1 1/2 cups cooked chick peas
1/2 cup water
1 bunch chard, center ribs removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Mexican Rice
1 1/2 cups brown rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp Southwest seasoning
2 1/2 cups water

Making the Rice:
Combine all the rice ingredients in your rice cooker (or a pot on the stove), and simmer until done.

Chorizo saute:
Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Remove the casing/plastic wrapping from the chorizo and crumble the sausage into the hot pan. Cook through, stirring occasionally, until most of the fat has rendered. Line a plate with 3 layers of paper towel and scoop the chorizo on the paper towel, folding over the edges to press out as much grease as possible. Pour the remaining pork fat out of the pan, leaving a thin film on the pan. Return the pan to the heat.

Add the sliced onions to the pan, and saute until they just begin to soften. Toss in the chick peas and chorizo and stir to combine. Pour in a half cup of water, and top with the chopped chard. Mix everything up gently, and serve when the chard has wilted and most of the water has evaporated. Garnish with cilantro and serve over mexican rice.

Fresh Herb Ranch Dressing

2009-07-27T19:28:00.006-05:00

The blog world has been on fire this summer with dozens of recipes of homeade ranch. I have to confess a long-held love of ranch that began at Denny's. Yes, that Denny's - of the 24-hour diner and Grand Slam fame. I worked at Denny's for over two years when I was in high school, and mostly I really liked my job there. I worked with a great bunch of women, learned how to tie a men's tie (and how easy it is for said tie to end up in a ramekin of pancake syrup), and sharpened my serving and selling skills, which led to later working in fine dining restaurants.

But back to ranch. One of the "sidework" jobs after shift was to make the gallon buckets of salad dressing...one of those being Hidden Valley Ranch. You'd take your bucket and pour in 2 gallons of buttermilk, one gallon of mayo, the packet of ranch seasoning and a cup of lemon juice. Yeah, that's a LOT of calories. And then you'd take a giant whisk and get your upper-body workout for the week and whisk for ages until it magically turned into ranch dressing. And it was good. In my time at Denny's I'm scared to think of the amount of ranch I consumed on salads, dipping chicken fingers in it, or....dipping mozzarella sticks in it. Yeah - all of those things would pretty much kill me now in the gluten-free era.

When all of these lovely ranch dressing posts started appearing on the internet, it was only a matter of time before I would whip up a batch for myself. And truly - this is the best ranch I have ever eaten...and may be my last.

I should have known better. Dairy and I have a rough relationship, so I've rationed my small dairy consumption into homeade ice cream for the last several months, and I've done fine with it. Well, after 2 days of eating ranch I felt a little oogey (very techincal medical term). My hands flared up again with painful dermatitis, which is what happens when I either eat gluten, or overwhelm my liver with something else I probably shouldn't eat - like ranch.

So, if you love ranch dressing (and don't have a problem digesting dairy), give this a try. It was amazing drizzled over grilled squash and fresh greens, and is revelatory when tossed with crisp, local cucumbers. Enjoy.

Ranch Dressing
Makes about 3 cups

1 cup organic buttermilk
1/2 cup mayo
1 cup 2% greek yogurt
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 T fresh dill, chopped
2 T fresh tarragon, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried garlic powder (not garlic salt)

Combine everything in a medium bowl, and whisk to combine until smooth. Store in a quart jar, and drizzle over fresh veggies or salad of your choice.
Note: the flavors will blend and intensify overnight, so don't over-season on the first day. You can alway add a bit more salt/pepper the next day.

Lemony Chick Pea & Cabbage Salad

2009-07-25T15:15:00.003-05:00

I don't think cabbage gets enough culinary love. It's a budget-friendly ingredient, as you can get several meals out of a good-sized head, but too often it's lobbed into boiling water with corned beef, or used to make cloyingly sweet, mayo-laden slaws.

Cabbage is meant for greater things than slaw. One of our very favorite meals is Bacon Egg Slurry, a dish of cabbage sauteed in a bit of bacon fat and seasoned liberally with black pepper and topped with over-easy eggs. Our CSA has gifted us with two HUGE heads of cabbage - we've already had 6 meals out of them, and I still have half a head left! I made Rick Bayless' Achiote Braised Pork tacos last night for some friends, and wanted a side dish that would help cut the richness of the delectable pork. I had cooked some chick peas up to make some hummus, and the cabbage was lurking in the crisper, so I tossed the two together with a lemon-peppery vinaigrette with just a hint of caesar salad flavors due to a dab of anchovy paste. I loved this salad, and happily ate the leftovers today for lunch. This is a crisp, refreshing salad for a hot summer day. Give it a try!

Lemony Chickpea & Cabbage Salad
Serves 6 as a side dish, 3 as a main course

1/4 head green cabbage, sliced thin
1/4 head red cabbage, sliced thin
1/2 cup celery, sliced paper-thin
1 1/2 cups cooked chick peas
3 T fresh basil, minced
3 T lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 T olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp anchovy paste
1/2 tsp salt
lots of fresh ground pepper

Slice the cabbage into fine, bite-sized ribbons and place in a large bowl. Add the cooked chick peas and thinly sliced celery.
Make the dressing: combine the lemon juice, zest, olive oil, basil, mustard, anchovy paste salt and ground pepper in a small bowl and whisk for a minute or two.
Pour the dressing over the cabbage and chick peas and use tongs to toss the salad to coat everything in the dressing. This salad can be made a coupe hours before serving, and is good for leftovers, too.

Cinnamon Spiced Quinoa

2009-07-21T20:02:00.004-05:00

While riding home on my bike this afternoon, I was thinking about breakfast options. I'm on a break from oatmeal, now that the weather is warm-ish (summer has yet to truly arrive in Chicago). I always have homeade granola bars on hand, but when I'm riding 11 miles in to the office in the morning, but if I eat a granola bar I'm hungry by 10 a.m. I need something just a bit heartier to keep my energy up and creative juices flowing.

My friend Betsey always eats a bowl of quinoa cooked with a bit of ghee in the morning, and so I decided I'd try a slightly sweet quinoa with my favorite oatmeal flavors - cinnamon and vanilla. I cooked the quinoa in my rice cooker as usual, and added a bit of butter to the spices to add just a little richness. The finished quinoa is light, fluffy, and perfectly spiced with a hint of sweetness, and a nutty backnote from the butter. I think I'll be making many more batches of spiced quinoa for breakfast this summer.

Cinnamon Quinoa
Serves 4

1 1/2 cups quinoa (2 rice cooker cups)
2 T butter, cut into a few pieces
1 T cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
a few grates of fresh nutmeg
3 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
water

Rinse the quinoa well in a fine mesh sieve for a minute or two, then drain. Dump the quinoa in the rice cooker bowl. Add cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, salt, brown sugar and then fill the rice cooker bowl to the 2 cup line. Cook on the "quick steam" mode, if you have one. When the quinoa is done, fluff and let cool on the counter before serving, or stashing in storage containers for the week ahead. The quinoa can be eaten room temperature or warmed.

Irish Cream Ice Cream

2009-07-20T21:11:00.001-05:00

I guess I'm out to prove that I'll try anything in the ice cream maker. We were out of ice cream, out of sugar, dairy, and I wanted to make some ice cream for Friday night. Rummaging around the pantry, I found a can of sweetened condensed milk, which I usually use to make the homeade irish cream...which led me right to making - irish cream ice cream! It turned out perfect - tasted just like the cocktail, without the alcohol. I flavored it with chocolate and coffee extracts from the Spice House, and swirled in a mocha ripple as I scooped the freshly churned ice cream into the storage container. And best of all, preparing the base is as simple as dumping it all in the blender, whiz it up for a few seconds and then you're done!

Irish cream ice cream
Makes 1 quart

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 13.5oz can coconut milk
1 1/2 T chocolate extract
1 1/2 T coffee extract
a few drops of almond extract

Pour all ingredients into a blender. Blend for a few seconds until it gets a little frothy. Pour into a storage container and chill overnight. Turn in your ice cream maker and enjoy!

Roasted Beet & Carrot Salad

2009-07-19T09:04:00.003-05:00

I was late to the beet-loving crowd. They were never served at our house growing up, and after (attempting) to serve this salad to some other Sutherlands this weekend, I can only surmise that beets are not natural to the family palette. But, joining a veggie CSA two years ago forced me to explore beets, and I'm so glad it did! I received a few beets in my CSA box this week, and so I went in search of more gorgeous beets at the farmer's market this morning - just look at the beautiful colors in the beets and carrots below!

My friend Melissa pointed me in the direction of this fabulous recipe from Cook's Illustrated last summer, noting that when her teenage daughter returned from summer camp, this salad was at the top of her list for a homecoming dinner! This year I was eagerly awaiting beet season, so that I could make another big batch of this salad.

Roasted beets have a sweet, earthy flavor, as do roasted carrots. In this case, you roast the veg at high heat, then toss the hot veggies with a simple vinaigrette, and the beets suck up all that wonderfully tart flavor, making a lovely balance of tart & sweet flavors. The original recipe calls for a pound of carrots and a pound of beets, but because beets were 2 bunches for $5, I tripled the recipe.

Roasted Beet Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
Serves - a party
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Magazine

1 1/2 lbs carrots (about 5 carrots)
3lbs beets of any color, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
Vinaigrette:
3 shallots, peeled and finely minced
2 T champagne vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 T honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, and place one sheet tray on the bottom rack, and a half-sheet tray on the top rack.
Peel and cube the beets and carrots into 1/2" pieces, and chuck them all in a big mixing bowl. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, sugar and pour a bit of olive oil in. Toss to coat, and revel in the beautiful colors in the bowl.
Remove the sheet trays from the oven and quickly spray with a bit of olive oil, then spread the beets and carrots out on the pans in one layer. Place them in the oven - the small sheet pan on the top rack, full sheet pan on the bottom rack. Roast for 30 minutes, without opening the oven.
While the beets are roasting, make the vinaigrette in the bottom of the big mixing bowl the beets were in. Mince the shallots and toss them into the bowl. Pour in 2 T champagne vinegar, 2 T olive oil, 1 T honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk, and let the shallots marinade in the dressing while the beets roast.
After 30 minutes in the oven, scoop the beets and carrots back into the mixing bowl with the vinaigrette, and gently stir so that the veggies can slurp up the vinaigrette. Allow the salad to cool on the counter for 30 minutes, then serve or chill until ready to serve.

Note: This salad can be made ahead and is beautiful as leftovers. Do serve the salad at room temperature. Topping the salad with a bit of goat cheese is heavenly.

Peach Frozen Yogurt

2009-07-16T21:15:00.002-05:00

If you were looking for an easy introduction to making your own frozen desserts, whip up a batch of frozen yogurt. It's as simple as dumping some fruit, plain yogurt and a bit of sweetener in the blender, whiz it up, then turn it in your ice cream maker. And, it's healthy! Leave your guilt behind when you scoop up a dish of this summery treat.

As you have probably gathered by now, I spend my summers much like a squirrel, stashing his nuts away for the winter...only I freeze gallon bags of every seasonal berry and fruit in quart and gallon bags for the long winter season to come. As I was taking inventory of the growing hoard, I found a last lingering bag with some peaches from last summer, and so this peach frozen yogurt was born. It is a perfect dessert for hot summer days - very refreshing, tasting of the best peaches of summer, with a little bump of brightness from the lime. Be sure to add rum or vodka to this one, to keep it from freezing into an unscoopable block overnight.

Peach Fro Yo
Makes a little more than a quart

3 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup agave nectar
3 cups organic vanilla yogurt
squeeze of lime juice
2 T rum

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until velvety smooth. Chill thoroughly, then turn in your ice cream maker.

Grilled Veggie Quinoa Salad

2009-07-14T21:13:00.003-05:00

We had a busy weekend at our house with Jenn, Brad and our niece and nephew, Laura and Matthew, coming to visit. The weather was absolutely perfect, so we spent a lot of time on our beach, as well as spending an afternoon downtown at Millennium Park. Watching the kids experience the city for the first time was really fun - seeing their eyes widen as they look at all of the tall buildings. And then spending an hour splashing in the water at the Crown Fountain was definitely a highlight of the weekend.

My nephew Matthew is also celiac, and I love cooking for him and seeing him try new things. My sister-in-law, Jenn, is also an accomplished baker, and always brings homeade gluten-free bread and treats - a special treat for me, since I don't bake much.

With a houseful of family this weekend, I got behind on meal planning and cooking for the week. Coming home from work Tuesday afternoon, I needed to play catch up in the kitchen. I also needed to dispose of some serious quantities of zucchini from the CSA last week, so I decided to improvise to create a new quinoa salad, and I am thrilled with the results. Grilled veggies are a summer treat - I love the slightly charred edges of grilled zucchini and bell pepper, the sweetness of grilled onion, and the mellow flavor of grilled carrots that are still slightly crisp. Tossed together with a light lemon vinaigrette, I'll be quite happy to take this salad for lunch for the rest of the week.

Grilled Veggie Quinoa Salad
serves 6 as a main course

1 1/2 cups dry quinoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 red onion, sliced in 1/3" slices
6 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise in 1/3" slices
2 small red bell peppers, sliced vertically into wide slices
1 large carrot, sliced lengthwise into 1/8" slices
1/2 cup parsley, minced
splash of olive oil, dash of salt & pepper

Lemon Vinaigrette:
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 T dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the quinoa according to your package instructions, with water & 1/2 tsp salt - or, do what I do, and make it in your rice cooker. When it is done, fluff it up with a wooden spoon, then pour it into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool fully.
Meanwhile, preheat your grill. Slice all of your veggies except for the onion, and place in another mixing bowl. Pour in a splash of olive oil, and a pinch or two of salt & pepper, and toss quickly with your hands to lightly coat all of the veg. Slice the onion into thick slices, then take toothpicks and skewer each onion slice so that they'll hold together on the grill and you'll be able to flip them.
When the grill is hot, carefully place each slice of veg on the grill, being careful not to lose any of them down the grate (a couple slices of zuke were sacrificed on our grill). Grill for 4 minutes on each side, and grill until the veggies are softened and just starting to get some lovely char on them. Turn off the grill, and remove all the veggies and place them on a large platter in one layer, to cool completely - you want to avoid piling them up and turning your grilled veggies into steamed veggies.
While the veggies cool, mix up the vinaigrette. Combine the lemon juice, zest, mustard, salt & pepper in a small bowl. Slowly pour in the oil, and mix briskly with a fork. Set aside.
Mixing it all together: Chop all of the beautifully roasted veg into 1/2" chunks, including the onion. Mince the parsley. Toss the veg and parsley with the quinoa and stir to combine. Pour the vinaigrette over top and gently stir to combine, then dish it up.

Spicy Thai Peanut Coleslaw

2009-07-12T20:45:00.004-05:00

Midweek meals can sometimes feel like a real grind during busy weeks, when the workday is long, and errands need to be run on the way home. Last Wednesday was just such a night, and I knew that we'd toss together a quick omelet for dinner, but I was stumped for a side dish. When I was rummaging through the crisper, I found half a head of cabbage and a bit of cilantro - and this salad came together quickly from there.

Cabbage is a vegetable that sometimes gets overlooked, and doesn't often take the stage as the star ingredient. I really love cabbage - as a slaw, sauteed and topped with eggs, in saurkraut - I love it all. The first cabbages of the summer season are something special, though. Bright green in color, and with crisp, tender leaves, summer cabbages beg to be dressed and eaten raw.

This slaw is a perfect summer salad, with a bit of Thai flavor in the spicy peanut vinaigrette dressing. I'm a big fan of Thai sauces, and particularly love a good peanut sauce. This dressing has all the flavor of satay sauce, with a much healthier application. The peanuts add a nice crunch to the salad, and a bit of protein. Serve this up as a side dish or as the main course - give it a try!

Asian Slaw with Peanut Vinaigrette
Serves 3 as a side dish

1/2 head green cabbage, sliced very thin and tough core removed
1 red bell pepper, seeded, sliced thin
2 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup peanuts, toasted
1 cup snow peas, sliced thin
big handful of cilantro, chopped

Vinaigrette
3 T fresh ground peanut butter
1 1/2 T brown rice vinegar, or to taste
squeeze of honey
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp wheat free tamari, or to taste
1 clove garlic, finely minced
a bit of siracha for heat
1 tsp water, to loosen the dressing
few drops of lime juice, for acidity

Make the vinaigrette: Whisk together all of the ingredients, squeezing in the honey and lime juice last, then whisking in a bit of water to loosen the dressing up, if needed. Taste, and adjust the flavors as needed, adding more honey, tamari, siracha or vinegar as needed to balance the flavors. If the dressing is really thick, dribble a bit of water in, to thin it out a bit.
Combine all the veggies and cilantro in a large bowl and toss to combine. Pour the vinaigrette over, and toss to coat evenly. Add the toasted peanuts and toss again, and then serve immediately.
Note: This salad will not keep well - the cabbage will get wilty, so if you want to save some for the next day, reserve some un-dressed veggies and some of the vinaigrette and make a fresh bowl of slaw.

Dried Apricot Ice Cream - Dairy Free

2009-07-10T16:35:00.004-05:00

I got a new ice cream maker for my birthday. Her name is Betty, and she is fire-engine red, and oh-so pretty. My old ice cream maker that has put in hard-service for 7 years was starting to complain about mix-ins and was tricky to clean. So with a generous amazon gift certificate from my brother for my birthday, I bought Betty.

And for my first batch of ice cream, David Lebovitz' Dried Apricot ice cream caught my eye...and has now stolen my heart. Like David, I adore dried apricots, and really have to watch my apricot-scarfing, as they are not a low-cal snack! My favorites are the California slab apricots from Trader Joes - they have a nice twangy tartness, and always seem pretty fresh. I did want to make this one dairy-free, so I went with an all-coconut base. The pectin in the apricots and the thick milk made for a VERY creamy ice cream...Mark thought it was too creamy, and I informed him that it simply wasn't possible for ice cream to be too creamy. I'd definitely make this one again, and it'll be a nice bright flavor for winter, when other fruits aren't available.

The recipe also calls for steeping the apricots in white wine - I used my current favorite Vinho Verde Gazela white wine - it's light, crisp, slightly bubbly, and less than $10 a bottle. You really couldn't detect the wine flavor in the finished ice cream, but I did enjoy a couple glasses of Gazela with dinner last night on the balcony.

Dried Apricot Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop

2 cans canned coconut milk (Choakoh is the best Thai brand)
5oz dried California apricots, roughly chopped
3/4 cup light white wine
1/2 cup sugar
a few drops of lemon juice

Warm the apricots and wine in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn heat off and cover. Let the apricots steep for an hour. Then, pour the apricots and wine, sugar, coconut milk and lemon juice into the blender and puree until smooth. Chill thoroughly before turning in your ice cream maker.

Joining the Pickle Parade

2009-07-06T20:56:00.004-05:00

I love pickles. As a kid, I was always Mom's pickling assistant, and she'd put a stool in front of the laundry tub for me to stand on, fill it with cold water, and I'd take a brush and scrub the nubbly little cukes until they were clean. It was a fair trade in labor, since I ate way more than my share of the bushel of pickles Mom put up each summer. There were definitely summer days when Kim and I would grab the jar of pickles in the fridge, and demolish the whole thing. I love tart, puckery things - probably why I love margaritas so much.

Everyone in the food blogging world is making pickles. Anything that comes out of the ground - people are pickling it. Lots of folks are pickling sugar snap peas and small carrots...and after reading Whitney in Chicago's beautiful post, I had to make some too. I had a bag of snap peas and a bag of snow peas in the fridge, and I picked up some gorgeous little baby carrots from Green Acres at the Evanston Farmer's market. Last Saturday, I made 1 jar of each.

The snap peas were ready for eating the next day, and we've been steadily working the jar down, stealing a pea or two anytime we open the fridge. The carrots take a couple of weeks to really fully pickle, so we're still waiting on those. Or trying to wait. I'll admit to sneaking a carrot or two, just to check.

Whitney's Pickle Post, with recipe

4th of July: Teriyaki Chicken

2009-07-04T07:37:00.004-05:00

Happy Fourth of July! I'm sure you're all spending the day cracking your well-worn copies of the Federalist Papers and appreciating the great minds and great struggle that created this amazing, messy experiment in Democracy that we call America. You might think mentioning the Federalist Papers as overly nerdy, but I can guarantee you that all of my college friends from James Madison treasure their copy as much as I do mine.

Anyway, once you've finished with your perusal of our country's founding, it's time for the other 4th of July tradition - grilling...and rather than just burgers, might I suggest something a little more exciting like teriyaki chicken?

This is another recipe from the Elon Files. When I first went gluten-free, salmon and lamb were pretty much the only proteins my body could tolerate. My friend Elon was telling me about her favorite salmon marinade on one of many lunch hours where we probably talked mostly about food. This is a pretty simple asian marinade, and it is fantastic on salmon, but I also really love it on chicken or skirt steak. I usually marinade at night, and then pour it over the meat in a storage container the next morning, and let it work its magic while I'm at work. One word of caution - don't let it marinate more than a day, or the ginger will turn the meat to mush. And the marinade recipe is more like broad guidelines - you'll have to taste as you go, and balance the salt-sweet-spice-sour flavors to make the balance you like.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
Serves 4-6

1 whole chicken, about 3.5lbs
approx 3T Tamari, wheat free
1/2 cup Cream Sherry
2 T fresh grated ginger
1 T honey
squeeze of siracha
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion, sliced

Break down your chicken into 6 pieces. What?! You don't know how? Check out gluten-free girl's adorable video to learn how to master the art of breaking down a bird.
Make the marinade the night before you plan to grill. Combine the tamari, sherry, ginger, honey, garlic, green onion and siracha in a small bowl. Cover, and stash in the fridge until morning. Before you head out for the day, pour the marinade into a storage container, and nestle the meat into the liquid, skin sides down. When you get home in the afternoon, flip the chicken so that the other side has some time to soak in the flavor.
Grill it up: Preheat grill to 400 degrees. Place breast and leg pieces on the grill, skin side down, close the lid and cook for 10 minutes. Open the grill and flip the legs and breasts and add the wing pieces to the grill. Grill for another 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is done, but not dry. Serve.

Garlic Scape Pesto

2009-07-03T19:39:00.004-05:00

Garlic scapes are in season for about 3 minutes in the early summer, and whenever I see them at the market, I snap up a bunch or two. This week, we were fortunate to get a nice bunch of them in our farm share. I love their silly curliques, and the tangle they make in a bag. The flavor of scapes is milder than dried garlic, and less astringent than green garlic, which makes it perfect for pesto, or the white bean dip I made awhile back.

Mark and I were off work today for the 4th Holiday, and just puttering around the house all morning, when we realized that we hadn't eaten breakfast and lunchtime was passing us by as well. Digging around in the fridge for something I could whip up quickly, I came up with a bunch of basil whose time was rapidly expiring, and the beautiful bag of scapes which put pesto pasta on the menu. The whole meal was about 20 minutes in the making - now that's fast food!

Pesto is so simple to make, and so versatile, I seem to make a batch at least once a month in the summertime, so that I can stockpile small cubes of pesto in the freezer for the winter months. I also prefer my pesto without parmesan cheese, and instead garnish the finished dish with parmesan. Pesto also freezes much better without the cheese in it. I topped our bowls of pasta with some leftover runner cannellini beans that were lingering in the fridge, and a few toasted pine nuts.

Garlic Scape Pesto
Serves 8-10

6-7 garlic scapes, blossoms removed
1 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil, approx.
salt & pepper to taste

Chop the garlic scapes roughly into a few pieces each. Place scapes and basil in the food processor and pulse until herbs are finely ground, stopping to scrape down the bowl a couple of times. Add the pine nuts, and pulse again. While the machine is running, drizzle the olive oil in slowly. You're shooting for a wet consistency for the pesto, so if it's a little dry after you've added the half-cup of oil, drizzle in a bit more. When you've got the consistency you like, season with salt and pepper to your taste, and then serve finished pesto over pasta, or warm boiled potatoes, salmon - whatever you like!

Hedgehog Potatoes

2009-06-30T20:11:00.004-05:00

Okay, I'm finally back with the recipe for the gorgeous potatoes that were peeking out behind the lamburgers last week. Hedgehog potatoes have been popping up on food blogs all over, so it was really only a matter of time before I hopped on the bandwagon, too. They are so elegant looking, with the thin slices of potato fanning out just a tad, allowing the taters to crisp just a little while roasting. I packed a little extra flavor into my hedgehogs, by tossing the sliced garlic with chipotle puree, and then sliding in the slivers of spicy garlic between each leaf of the potato. These are pretty simple to make, and we loved the extra kick of the chipotle on the roasted potatoes. Mark declared that I could make these potatoes anytime, so I think they were a success!

Hedgehog Potatoes

a few smallish roasting potatoes (I like Nichol's Farm's German Butterball potatoes)
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 1/2 T chipotle puree
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the sliced garlic, oil, salt and chipotle puree in a small bowl and stir to coat the garlic. Scrub the potatoes and then dry them with a towel. With a paring knife, slice the potatoes all the way across and about 3/4 of the way through the potato, every 1/4 inch - you want the potatoes to hold together. When the potatoes are all sliced, slip a chipotle covered sliver of garlic between each leaf of the potatoes, so that the flavor can infuse the potatoes as they roast. If you have any leftover garlic or puree, rub it on the outside of the potatoes. Sprinkle the tops of the potatoes with a bit more kosher salt before you pop them in the oven.
Place the sliced and stuffed potatoes in a baking dish and cover with foil. Roast covered for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil, and roast for another 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through, and beginning to brown just a bit. Serve, and watch them disappear!

Basil Vinaigrette Potato Salad

2009-06-28T09:45:00.003-05:00

Glutenfree Girl posted a recipe for potato salad in May that I have been craving ever since. To say that I've been craving potato salad is a big deal. I have never been an eater of potato salad - even passing up my mom's, which seems to disappear at any summer gathering. But when my favorite German Butterball potatoes showed up at the farmer's market this week along with the first giant bouquets of basil...I just had to take the plunge and give this salad a try. I'm not going to post the recipe for this one, as you really should just go read Shauna's post, as I cannot match her beautiful words or photos.

I didn't have morels or asparagus to add to the salad, as both of those have now passed out of season here. I switched out her Walla Walla onions (local to Seattle), for our own local spring onions and green garlic. I served the finished salad to friends on our balcony on a perfect summer evening, and there were second helpings all-around. I had a tiny bit leftover, which I tossed with some leftover roasted chicken to take for dinner at Relay For Life on Friday night. I also had about 3/4 cup of the vinaigrette leftover as well, which we'll enjoy on salads this week.

Read Glutenfree Girl's Potato Salad Recipe

Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2009-06-27T10:02:00.004-05:00

In the first two weeks of our summer farm share, we've received a bunch of mint in each box. Normally, I might use some of it in a chopped veggie salad, or to marinate some lamb for kabobs, but this time...ice cream was at the top of my list. Oh, and here's one more plug for farmers that I adore - if you live in Chicago and have not yet tried products from the Blue Marble Dairy, then get up early on Saturday morning to venture out to the Green City, Evanston or Oak Park farmer's market to pick up some of their amazing, non-homogenized dairy. Their dairy has a freshness that is missing in the factory farmed stuff you get at the grocery, and it comes in those cute old-old fashioned glass bottles (which also make good vases).

Mint chocolate chip ice cream is probably Mark's favorite flavor. Anytime we go out for ice cream, there's a good chance that a scoop of the oddly green ice cream is in his cup. I like mint ice cream just fine, but I think it took this batch of fresh mint ice cream to put me over-the-top into the LOVE column. There is just no comparison between store-bought ice cream, and the zingy intensity of ice cream made from real, fresh mint. Add some chunks of high-quality dark chocolate, and you have the perfect summer ice cream. I bought more mint at the farmer's market this morning so I could whip up another batch of custard this morning.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart

2 cups lightly packed mint leaves, washed and roughly chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cans coconut milk (about 2 1/4 cups)
3/4 cup half & half
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup half & half
2 T vodka
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips, roughly chopped

Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Set aside the yolks in a bowl, and save the whites for later use.
Warm the coconut milk, mint leaves, sugar and salt in a small saucepan gently. Turn off the heat, cover and let the mint leaves steep for an hour. After an hour, strain the milk into a medium sized bowl and discard the mint leaves. Pour the minty milk back into the saucepan and re-warm over low heat.
When the milks are warm, but not yet hot, whisk the yolks in their bowl, and then sloooowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. The goal is to keep the eggs from scrambling. When the milk and yolks have been combined, pour the mixture back into your saucepan, and gently heat while stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, making sure you scrape the edges and bottoms.
Heat the custard until it gets steamy and thickens so that it will coat the back of a spoon. It will be about 170 degrees when the custard is done.
Now, pour the chilled half & half into the empty bowl, and set a strainer over the top, then pour the custard through the strainer to catch any bits of scrambled egg. Chill the custard in the fridge overnight, and then when you're ready to make the ice cream, stir in the vodka. When the ice cream is just about done turning in the machine, pour in the chopped chocolate chips.

CSA Week 2 & Basil Caesar Salad

2009-06-26T13:59:00.002-05:00

It's week 2 of our Summer CSA, and the green goodness keeps on coming! This week's box brought us more amazingly lush, crisp lettuce - one romaine, one green leaf, green garlic, zuchini, rhubarb, snow peas, mushrooms, strawberries and mint. Quite a haul! I don't have specific plans for everything yet, but I did wash and dice the rhubarb and spread it out onto a sheet tray for quick freezing, and once frozen, I'll stash it in a ziploc bag, and pull it out when the snow flies and I want a taste of summer.

But the first meal from this week's box was a fresh, crisp caesar salad with homeade dressing. I hope that once you give this caesar dressing a try that you'll toss that bottled gunk in the trash. And don't be afraid of the egg yolk - if you're buying fresh eggs from your local farmers (as you should be this time of year), then there's no reason why you shouldn't be making this dressing. To add an extra measure of safety, I do coddle the egg briefly in boiling water. The taste of fresh caesar dressing - unctuous, lemony, briny - cannot be beat, and even the salad-suspicious will wolf down this salad. If you're a vegetarian, simply leave out the anchovy and worchestershire, and add a bit more mustard - you'll still have an excellent dressing that beats the bottle.

Basil Caesar Dressing
Makes enough for 4 entree salads

10 or so basil leaves, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 egg
juice of half a lemon
olive oil, about 1/4 cup
1 tsp anchovy paste
dash of worchestershire
salt & pepper to taste
2 T grated parmesan

heat a small pan of water and bring to a boil. Add egg and boil for 90 seconds, then remove the egg immediately, and separate the egg, and place the yolk in a measuring cup. Add the mustard, lemon juice, anchovy paste, minced garlic, minced basil to the cup and whisk. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, taste as you go until you achieve the right balance of acid and oil. Stir in the grated parmesan when the dressing is smooth and emulsified, and toss with your greens. Top the salad with a bit more parmesan, and maybe a bit of leftover chicken. Enjoy!

Grilled Lamburgers

2009-06-22T20:04:00.004-05:00

I love lamb any way that it's cooked, but I really enjoy the cheaper cuts the most. I'll pass up a lamb chop in favor of lamb stew any day of the week. Our meat farm share provides us with some lamb almost every month, and this month we received ground lamb, and my favorite thing to do with it is to grill up some lamburgers. I like to add some fresh herbs to the meat - whatever I have on hand. This evening, I added spring onion and chopped basil, salt, pepper and grilled them up for a tasty dinner. (And I know you're eyeing those gorgeous potatoes, but you'll just have to wait for that recipe.)

Lamburgers
Makes 3 burgers

1 lb ground lamb
handful of basil, minced
1 spring onion, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Mince the basil and spring onion, place in a bowl with the ground lamb and mix with your hands to incorporate the the herbs into the meat. Form the meat loosely into three balls, and then form the patties. Preheat your grill, and then grill 4 minutes on the first side, flip the burgers, and then grill 3 more minutes and serve. Garnish with sliced onion and some spicy mustard - Colman's is our favorite.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

2009-06-21T13:47:00.004-05:00

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, and especially to mine! Like most Dads, ours reigned over the meat grilling, and did a fine job with the handling of meat and fire. Dad taught us a lot of things - like how to mow the lawn and clean the pool - skills that I don't use much in my urban life...But now that I'm an adult, I really appreciate how he always put family first. His job was a means to allow him time to spend with the family, and it was important to him to be home around 5:30 every evening. His job was over an hour away from home, so this meant getting up early so that he could be home at a reasonable hour. And I find that I've set up my career the same way - I'm usually at my desk at 7a.m., and try to leave the office at 4pm, so that I'm home around 5p.m. (I also seem to have acquired the hour-long commute, too - but at least I do it on bike or train). So thanks for being home with us every evening, Dad, and attending all of our basketball games, track meets, concerts, plays and always being proud of us. We will definitely be commemorating the day with some grilled lamburgers a bit later on.

And now, to the ice cream...The June strawberry fest continues unabated this week in our home, though I think I'm glad that I bought my flat of strawberries last week - all the rain this week has waterlogged the berries, and while they're still excellent, they were more excellent last week. Glad my freezer is already well-stocked.

Anyway, with a few more quarts of berries in the fridge, it was definitely time to whip up some ice cream. Do not make this ice cream with store-bought strawberries. And if I'm being straight with you, dear readers, I'd also tell you to *never* buy strawberries in a grocery store. California grows crap strawberries, and the ones shipped cross country are nothing like the luscious, sweet as candy berries that are grown locally by Midwest farmers. So get your behind out of bed on the weekends and hit the farmer's market in June if you want REAL berries.

This ice cream is awesome. I know I say that a lot, and maybe my standards are low, as I rarely make a batch of ice cream that isn't worthy of illicit spoonfuls stolen from the container late at night or early in the morning. This ice cream is light, and tastes of beautiful fresh berries, with a cheesecakey finish, thanks to the addition of goat cheese. You might think goat cheese an odd addition to ice cream, but it really did bring in the cheesecake flavor, with less than half the calories and fat. Give this one a turn in your ice cream maker while the berries are still good!

Strawberry ice cream with goat cheese
makes a bit more than a quart

1 quart strawberries, washed, stems removed and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 13oz can coconut milk
3/4 cup half & half
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
4oz fresh goat cheese
2 T vodka

Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Set aside the yolks in a bowl, and save the whites for later use.
Place cleaned and sliced strawberries in a bowl with the sugar and vodka and let it sit for an hour, stirring every now and again.
After an hour has passed, heat the coconut milk and half & half in a small saucepan gently. When the milks are warm, but not yet hot, whisk the yolks in their bowl, and then sloooowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. The goal is to keep the eggs from scrambling. When the milk and yolks have been combined, pour the mixture back into your saucepan, and gently heat while stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, making sure you scrape the edges and bottoms.
Heat the custard until it gets steamy and thickens so that it will coat the back of a spoon. It will be about 170 degrees when the custard is done.
Crumble the goat cheese into a large bowl, and then place a fine mesh sieve over the bowl. Pour the custard through the sieve and into the bowl, and stir to melt the goat cheese, making a smooth mixture. Set the custard aside for a few moments to cool.
When the custard has cooled off quite a bit, pour it into a blender along with the strawberries and their juices. Puree in the blender, then chill thoroughly before turning in your ice cream maker.

From the CSA Files: Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf

2009-06-20T13:38:00.006-05:00

Friends have been telling me all week that they can't wait to hear what I make with all the veggies from my CSA boxes, and this is the first of many CSA meals I'll be posting. The inspiration for this one came from one of my favorite cookbooks, Super Natural Cooking, by Heidi Swanson.

If you haven't been following Heidi's blog, 101 Cookbooks, check it out as soon as you finish drooling over this dish. Heidi's vegetarian recipes inspire my cooking on a weekly basis, and her photography is amazing. She focuses on whole foods cooking as I do, and many of her recipes are gluten-free, too. If you're just getting into cooking alternative grains like quinoa, teff and millet, Heidi offers some wonderful recipes to get you started.

This dish is a quinoa pilaf of sorts, with flavors reminiscent of risotto, due to the addition of white wine, stock and a little butter. I love that it has all of the rich flavor of risotto, with a lot less fuss and calories. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I'm a lot less interested in standing in front of the stove and stirring risotto for a half hour. I topped the finished quinoa pilaf with some sauteed mushrooms and asparagus, and it made a perfect summer lunch, and one I'll be happy to take with me to work this week.

Mushroom Asparagus Quinoa Pilaf
serves 4-6 as a main course

1/2 onion, minced
3 stalks of green garlic, sliced thin
2 T butter, divided
3/4 cup white wine
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 container button mushrooms (about 2 cups)
1/2 bunch asparagus (about a cup), sliced
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 pinches red pepper flakes

Place the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve, and rinse well under running water for a minute or two. Set sieve aside to drain.
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 T butter, onion and green garlic, and saute until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the white wine, 3/4 tsp salt, pepper and quinoa. Stir, and bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Add stock, stir, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low, and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat, and add the 1/2 tsp olive oil and asparagus, and cook briefly, 1-2 minutes, until asparagus is just beginning to get tender, but still crisp. Scoop the asparagus into a bowl, and set aside.
In the same skillet, over medium heat, add the remaining 1 T butter. When melted, add the sliced mushrooms, rosemary, red pepper flakes and a pinch or two of salt, and shake pan gently to toss mushrooms with the butter. Then let the mushrooms cook, untouched for 3-4 minutes. Stir once, then let them finish browning - another 2-3 minutes.
When the quinoa is done, fluff it up with a wooden spoon, then ladle into bowls (or storage containers if you're making this for weekday lunches as I did). Top with the mushrooms and asparagus and serve.