Chomp Zone

Shout out to my little bro who pulled this together (no pun intended!). His recipe? A lot of brown sugar, Frank’s hot sauce, 3 lbs of boneless pork something and a dutch oven. Oh, and lots of time.

Although I assume, that many beef stews are one pots. Unless you are making Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon. Which I have a done. And it took five hours. Maybe longer. I cant remember. It was good, but five hours good? I don’t know…

Anyway, we had some leftover steak in the fridge. Not enough to warrant a meal on its own though. So I decided to make beef stew. This recipe is pretty forgivable and you could add or subtract any variety of items.

Here’s what you need -

• 1 - 2 pounds boneless chuck/steak/stew beef, cut into 1 inch cubed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 medium potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cubed
• 3 medium carrots, scrubbed, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks
• 2 stalks of celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp of tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup red wine

Preheat the oven to 325F. Combine all of the ingredients together in a 3.5 quart (or larger) dutch oven minus the wine. Toss the tapioca and spices to evenly coat the meat and vegetables. Pop into the oven, stirring every hour for three hours. Pour the red wine in at the second stirring (two hours in) and stir to combine.

This is  more about the potatoes. I didn’t do anything interesting to the steak. I didn’t need to (we splurged on a nice cut). Nice cuts of steak mean salt, pepper, a little olive oil or butter and a hot pan.

Rosemary potatoes on the other hand - need a bit more attention. Here’s what you need -

• 1 lb of potatoes, peeled, and cut into 1/2” pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried rosemary (but fresh would taste better, so if you have that, use it)
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a medium skillet on high and add olive oil. Heat for a moment, then add your peeled and chopped potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until the potatoes start to soften. Add rosemary, and stir to incorporate. Cook for another 5 - 6 minutes until potatoes are soft and you can pierce them with a fork. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

My mom’s favorite cake in the whole wide world (or one of them at least) is Alton Brown’s carrot cake (recipe here). So I know you aren’t supposed to alter Alton’s recipes. They are perfected. They are science. But we’ve changed things out due to allergies and diets. Spelt flour for wheat flour. Egg replacers for eggs. You get the picture. Given my new experiment, I needed a lower gluten flour then spelt, and I will be honest, I was a bit nervous. 

But this cake is hands down, one of the best things I have ever made - with or without gluten. Again, recipe below will tell you how to make both versions, and I encourage you to try one of them out!

I also apologize, but I didn’t take a picture before we hacked into the cake. That said, please enjoy a view of what it looked like after four adults and a child were set upon it after dinner.

Here’s what you need -

• 12 ounces of grated carrots
• 2 1/2 cups of flour (I used King Arthur’s gluten free all purpose flour + 1 tsp of xantham gum)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 ounces vanilla or plain yogurt
• 6 ounces of canola oil

If you have a food processor, this cake is a breeze. If not, take into consideration that grating carrots can take a long time. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Using the grater attachment for the food processor, finely grate your carrots. Toss the carrots in the bowl with flour and mix to coat.

Add the sugar, eggs and yogurt into the food processor and blend until smooth. With the food processor still running, slowly drizzle in the oil. Combine the sugar mixture with the flour mixture. Pour into a greased 9” inch round cake pan. I cut out a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom given that gluten free baking can be fickle, but this might save you from stress with a gluten cake as well.

Pop your cake into the oven for 45 minutes on 350. Lower the temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 20 - 25 minutes. (Mine took 30)

Let the cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes then flip out onto a wire rack and cool the rest of the way (approximately 90 minutes).

Top with cream cheese frosting. (Oh you want to know how I made that to? Sorry Alton, but this version is mine).

• 4 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 4 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extra

Beat the cream cheese and butter for a few minutes on medium speed with an electric mixer / stand mixer. Add the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar in four batches and continue to beat until fluffy.

Happy birthday, Mom!

I love bahn mi’s. The pickled carrot. The pork. The cilantro. The spicy mayo. Inspired by a bunch of cilantro I bought yesterday (and already starting to wilt!), I decided to try the bahn mi route. Here’s what you’ll need -

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 sugar
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1/3 cup grated radishes
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 1/3 cup julienne cucumber
• 2 tbsp mayo
• 1/2 tsp Srichacha sauce
• 2 flaky buns (or gluten free, unflaky buns for me)

In a small pan, combine the water, vinegar, sugar. Heat on medium until the sugar dissolves and the liquid boils. Remove from the heat and pour into a glass jar. Let cool, then add the grated carrots and radishes. Store in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. Can be made overnight.

In a bowl, combine the pork, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

In a medium fry pan, heat the olive oil. Add the pork mixture and chop up to ensure that all of the pieces brown. Meanwhile, combine the mayo and Srichacha sauce. Continue to stir the pork until cooked all the way through (about 10 minutes).

Spread the mayo on a bun. Add cucumbers, carrots and radishes on top. Add pork on top. Sprinkle with cilantro.

(Doesn’t James’ look good?! Mmm.)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Bon Appetit’s December issue was filled with recipes for delicious holiday cookies. One recipe in particular, the cardamom crescents, had been calling my name. A cookie that could be perfectly paired with tea. Dusted lightly with powdered sugar. Oh, divine!

Original recipe is located here. I halved mine and made gluten free, but the instructions below are adaptable to both methods.

Here’s what you’ll need -

• 1 1/4 cup flour (if using a gluten free blend, add 1 tsp of xantham gum)
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar + additional for dusting
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 stick of butter, room temp
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the first four (five including xantham gum if gluten free) in a medium bowl and set aside. In the food processor, combine the pecans and powdered sugar until a coarse meal forms.

In a separate bowl, beat butter and vanilla together. Add the pecan mixture, then the dry ingredients. Dough may be a little crumbly. Dump out and knead lightly four times.

Form 1 1/2 inch balls and then roll into a log about 1 1/2 inches long. Bend into a crescent and taper the ends. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, turning the tray once. The bottoms should be golden brown.

Let cool slightly. Meanwhile, sift 1/2 cup of powdered sugar into a bowl. Drop cookies and cover. Set on a wire rack to cool completely. If you’re going the gluten free route, simply sift powdered sugar over the cookies on the tray. They’re very fragile and will explode otherwise (I may have lost a few while experimenting). Dust with additional powdered sugar before serving.

Day one of being back to gluten free and I would say it’s been a success thus far. I had a burst of creative energy in the kitchen (something that vanished over the holiday season) and spent hours concocting recipes - gluten free crescent cookies (yum), gluten free bread, gluten free ice cream. You name it.

Tonight we went back to the basics - stir fry. I made a lot of stir fries back in the day, although most were bland tasting because I had not discovered spices yet. Unable to nosh on soy sauce, I couldn’t rely on my go to Szechuan sauce. It could have been tragic. But thanks to many gluten free bloggers and Epicurious I was inspired to make a peanut based sauce. Here’s what you’ll need -

• 6 - 8 tbsp dry roasted peanuts
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 cup Knorr vegetable bouillon
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp lime juice (or one whole lime, juiced)
• 1 clove of garlic

In a food processor, blend peanuts until a coarse meal forms. Add the sesame oil and pulse until smooth. It should look something like this:

Add the remaining ingredients and continue to pulse until smooth. If you prefer more spice, add more red pepper flakes. If the sauce isn’t thick enough for you, add more peanuts (you can do this after the fact, just make sure to blend well). Makes about 2 cups.

For the stir fry you will need -

• 3/4 lb of shrimp, deveined and shelled
• 1/2 cup Knorr vegetable bouillon
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 medium orange pepper, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, chopped into 1/4 - 1/2” pieces
• handful of sugar snap peas

In a large pan, boil the vegetable broth and sesame oil. Add the shrimp and cook until pink (about 3 - 4 minutes). Turn in the middle of cooking. Add the vegetables and cover. Stir occasionally and cook for another 5 - 6 minutes until vegetables are soft and heated through. Remove from heat and strain any liquid left in the pan. Add 1 cup of the peanut sauce as prepared above. Heat for an additional minute.

Serve on top of rice. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts, toasted sesame seeds and cilantro.

We are approaching the end of the year, which to many means making a resolution or compiling a list of activities to complete by the year’s end. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - I can’t stand resolutions. I am not against them. I don’t despise them. But I am not very good at following through on them. Too much pressure. However, this year, I am using the new year as a launch point to start something. It’s not a resolution. It may not happen for the entire year, but we’re going to give it a go.

For almost a decade, I lived a fairly gluten free life. College happened, moving into an apartment, and well, it was easier (and cheaper) to “cheat.” Flash forward and my knees started to hurt. Then my teeth rebelled on me. Things were not right. So January 1, 2012, we are cracking down again. Why? To see if the swelling in my knees stops (yes, gluten can cause this) and to see if the pH in my mouth balances out (because this is also a side effect of gluten).

I am sharing this because this is a blog about food. If you look through my recipes, most are gluten free anyway. But I don’t have any intentions of making things that you can’t mimic in your own kitchen with regular good old flour.

Here’s to a new project starting in 2012.

Our CSA has finally come to an end, but each week we received more spinach than humanly possible to consume. For example.

This isn’t spinach you can just wash and be done with. No. It’s covered in dirt. And the stems need to be snipped off. One bag took us two hours to wash, snip, cook and package to freeze. But regardless, we still needed to use it up.

Another item we had in abundance were potatoes - both sweet and white. Epicurious saved the day. Inspiration did the rest. 

Here’s what you need -

• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 10 ounces fully cooked chorizo sausage, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 - 2 pounds of sweet potato, peeled, and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 - 2 pounds white potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices (you should have 3 pounds of potatoes total, so accommodate accordingly) 
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 9 ounces of spinach

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Cook sausage until browned, about 8 minutes. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered in paper towel to drain. Add onions and garlic to the pan and cook until translucent. Add all of the potatoes and cook until starting to soften, about 12 minutes.

Add broth. Scrape up bits of browned stuff on the bottom. Simmer for 20 minutes until potatoes are entirely cooked through. Add the sausage back in, and the spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted. Stir in remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

The holiday season pretty much prevented me from finding time to blog. Too much wrapping and shopping and cleaning to do. But rest assure, I continued to cook as much as I could (though I’ll admit, we ate a rotisserie chicken all last week). The December issue of Bon Appetit was filled with wonderful cookie recipes, including one for homemade nougat. 

As a child, we use to eat nougat from the North End. It was absolutely divine. Little did I know, it was entirely possible to duplicate this in my own kitchen.

Original recipe here.

Here’s what you need -

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 cup of unsalted, shelled pistachios
• 1 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 egg white, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup of dried bing cherries, roughly chopped
• Parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 325F. Arrange the pistachios evenly on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 minutes, stirring once. Let cool and roughly chop.

Meanwhile, cut pieces of parchment paper to fit an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch glass baking dish. Line the dish with saranwrap so that you have 3 inches overhanging on each side. Spray the dish with cooking spray. Place one piece of parchment paper in the bottom. Spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine 2 Tbsp water and the sugar and honey. Heat on medium-high and stir until sugar has dissolved. Fashion a candy thermometer to the side and boil until it reached 253 (mine was at 255 and it still worked). Remove from the heat.

In a standing mixer, whip the egg white and salt together until soft peaks form. With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the honey sugar syrup and continue to beat for 10 minutes until the mixture has tripled in volume and cooled off slightly.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in pistachios and cherries. Pour contents into the prepared baking dish. I found it to be incredibly stiff, and it was easier to spread with my fingers than with a spatula (hello, stickage). Spray the final piece of parchment paper and place spray side down on the nougat. Use an offset spatula to smooth.

Let nougat set for at least two hours. Use the saranwrap to pull the nougat up. Cut in 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.

Store in an airtight container for one week.