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Spicy Autumnal Beef Stew

When the fall weather gets nippy I find myself craving a well made beef stew.  Now that I can’t have barley I look for other things to make my stew hearty and add flavor.  This recipe is my corruption of a roast recipe from Food Network.  I think of it as “spicy stew” and it is a refreshing take on beef stew. Chock full of chunks of veggies and lots of spice, it will warm your tummy and make your taste buds sing!  I know my picture is not the prettiest but it really is tasty and despite the long list of ingredients it goes into the pot in short order and comes out tender and flavorful.

Be sure to use a cut of beef that will stand up to a long cooking, chuck is best. I used some boneless beef chuck ribs, kinda fatty but they have great beefy flavor. Chuck stew cubes also will work for this recipe.

Parsnips are like sweet pale carrots.  I also like to use them in my pot roast veggies.

parsnips

If you have some celeriac aka celery root use it in stead of the celery ribs.  It is hard to find and kinda pricy so I seldom spring for it.  It looks like a mutant potato, all bumpy which can make it a chore to peel.  celriac

I added the carrots as carrots make any stew better, in my opinion.

You can start this stew in the afternoon and let it bubble away until supper time.  I served mine with a baked potato for a starch but gluten free noodles would also be great.   If you are avoiding carbs leave off the potato/noodles.  The gravy was phenomenal though, over my baked potato!

 spicy beef stew

Spicy beef Stew
Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
2 large yams/sweet potatoes, peeled cut into 1-2 inch pieces
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks
2 celery ribs cut in fat chunks

1 cup of baby carrots, left whole

1.5 lbs boneless beef chuck ribs, trimmed of excess fat or cubed chuck steak

Salt and ground black pepper
1 tbsp. all-purpose gf flour or just white rice flour
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, plain or with added chili peppers

1 tbsp horseradish

2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions

Place chopped onion, sweet potatoes, parsnips, celery root or celery and the baby carrots in bottom of slow cooker. Season beef all over with salt and black pepper. Rub flour all over beef. Place beef chunks on top of vegetables in slow cooker.

Whisk together tomatoes, maple syrup, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour mixture over beef.

Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours. I did mine on high for just over 4 hours, perfect.

Remove beef ribs from slow cooker with tongs or a long handled fork and chop up and return to the stew, stir well and serve in a wide low soup bowl.  If you used chunks of chuck just stir and enjoy!

Homemade Lemoncello….Lightly Lovely

Last winter I made some lemoncello.  This is an Italian vodka based lemon liquor.  I used the peels of Meyer lemons my brother sent me from his lemon tree in Texas last November.  But if you don’t have a supply of these sweet thin skinned lemons you can use lemons from the grocery store.  Best if you can get organic ones.  Wash them well and let them dry completely before peeling.

meyer lemons

Meyer lemons

I used some potato based vodka to be sure it was gluten free, a 750 ml bottle is enough.  This is a simple recipe although it takes a number of weeks to get the finished product.  Basically you peel just the yellow parts off the skin/rind of 8-10 or so lemons, I use my sharpest peeler and try not to get much white peel as it is bitter. Then, dump the peels in a big jar, cover completely with the vodka, let stand a minimum of 30 days; up to 40 days.  Then make some sugar syrup:  mix 3 ½ cups sugar and 2 ½ cups water, bring to a boil, stirring. Let cool completely.  Pour it over the peels and vodka and let stand overnight.

I also have made it by draining off the peels and mixing the lemon infused vodka right with the sugary syrup.  I suggest you use the peels for candying.  Pour the newly made liquor into an empty wine bottle and cork it.  Let stand 30 days before using.  Some people claim it has to be kept in the fridge and others in the freezer. I have tried the fridge; fine but I even leave it out in its bottle and have never had mold; it is really booze and sugar.  Mine seems to keep well for several months on a shelf, if it lasts that long! The finished product is a pale champagne color with a sweet lemony taste.

You can roll the wet lemon peels in granulated sugar and let them dry on wax paper or in a dehydrator.  Fully dry, they can be ground up in the blender to make lemon sugar for adding to flour mixtures for dessert items; adds just a touch of lemon flavor.

Some people like it less sweet; use a cup less sugar in your simple syrup mixture.

lemoncello top

I like to pour about an ounce, maybe two into a short glass, add an ice cube or two and top with some filtered or bubbly seltzer water and perhaps a thin curl of lemon or even a skinny wedge of ripe honeydew melon.  Yummy in the hot summer and even as the fall cools down.  Perfect on a Sunday afternoon.  Get peeling!

Cowboy Cookies to Crush On!

My freezer is empty of cookies.  This is Not good.  Cookie baking was a priority for this week.  I saw this recipe a while ago on a favorite website; Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.  I saved it and made a mental note to put it at the top of my “gotta bake sweets” list.  Tonight I finally had time to throw it together.  These cookies are created just like that; dump and blend and then there is a bit of stickiness in the shaping of them but no matter, just wash those sticky fingers and hands before you put on the oven gloves!

I revised her recipe just a bit.  I like to use all dark brown sugar, I added walnuts, less vanilla and one batch I didn’t have quite enough Better Batter flour mix so I used a brown rice flour mix for the last ½ cup.   I sometimes don’t bother to beat the eggs; added them one at a time though. I got the coconut chips at Freys Better Foods here in Hellertown, on sale this week!

coconut chips

Cowboy cookies have been around a long time.  Popular with cowboys I assume! I have provided the recipe revised by it was published by Nicole Hunn in her fabulous blog, a great resource for gf baked goods.

They are sturdy and yummy.  The flavor is a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate chips, cinnamon, brown sugar and oats with a healthy dose of butter.  Totally. nummy. good.

cowboy cookie

I never heard of them before my first batch although apparently they have been around for decades. I read today that Laura Bush baked a version of them in her smack down with another First Lady wanna be.  Whatever.  They are hearty and really big so I am guessing they might well be from Texas!

cowboy cookies

My batch made 24 cookies, the recipe said 20….  So mine were a tad smaller than suggested but still really large.  I ended up baking mine for 14 minutes so I suggest you do likewise.  If you bake them one sheet at a time they should be done in 12 minutes but I would rather bake 2 sheets simultaneously.  Some of the sets of six cookies were done on the parchment paper and one sheet was just on a cooking sprayed non stick cookie sheet.  Both ways worked fine.  They spread some but not a lot; leave some space between them.

I plan to freeze most of them so they last a bit.  I am guessing success will be my ability to pull one of these big boys out of the freezer and snack down after work next week!

Cowboy Cookies, GF

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour (Better Batter works great)

1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it) *BB does!

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp kosher salt

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups coconut chips

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 eggs at room temperature, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, and whisk to combine well.

Place about 1 teaspoon of the dry ingredients in a separate, small bowl and add the chocolate chips to the bowl. Toss to coat the chips, and set the bowl aside.

To the large bowl, add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar and whisk to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar. Add the oats and coconut chips and mix to combine. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, eggs and vanilla, mixing to combine. Add the chips and reserved dry ingredients, and mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout. If necessary to bring the dough together, knead it with your hands. Divide the dough into 20 pieces, each about 2 ounces. Roll each into a ball and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each ball into disk about 1/4-inch thick with your palm or a big spatula.

Place the baking sheets in the center of the preheated oven, two at a time, and bake until lightly golden brown all over (about 14 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy these fat and tasty big cookies; no one will ever guess they are gluten free!

Postscript: these freaking cookies are addictive! They are subtly flavored by the combination of the above named ingredients.  My grandson loves them too.  He and I shared 2 this evening. I ate another one after I took him home.  Trust me, they are the bomb!

Post script: I made a new batch today.  Note to self; follow recipe exactly and they are even better….  I make sure to beat the eggs first before pouring them on top of the softened butter and the vanilla.  I also remembered to add the chips last and watch them closely in the oven.  This batch is so  yummy I had to put most of them in the freezer to keep myself from eating more cookies.  Perfect warm out of the oven.  OMG: I am in love with these cowboys!

Autumnal Hearty Meal: Perfect Stuffed Peppers

There are times when I get home with plenty of time to cook or nights I feel I can whip dinner up in a few minutes.  And then there are times when I have to work late and don’t get home until after 8 pm.  I am too hungry to start cooking a big meal that could take an hour or more to make.  That is what leftovers are for and where slow cookers can be oh so helpful.  I confess that I have never been a fan of the slow cooker a/k/a crock pot until now.  I always worried the food would be overcooked and/or mushy as well as only having washed out flavor from the long slow cook.  Still, working late makes the concept of the slow. long process seem very attractive and helpful.

Along that thought process I bought a gluten free slow cooker cookbook. I wanted to try out the concept in my real life.  Mondays are a work late night for me and the whole week of food seems to stretch out unfilled and bothersome.  I got out my new cookbook and my ancient trusty crock pot and now, between jobs on Mondays, I fling together the basic ingredients, switch it on and off I go to work.  When I get home four hours later I turn the key and open my front door to heavenly scents of a meal all ready to dish out and enjoy.

I have made five or six recipes from the new book and have been pretty darn satisfied with the results.  The chicken paprika is amazing.  The only reason I haven’t blogged about it is that I don’t have a picture of it to put with the post. And I could go on and on about the delish Peruvian Chicken with Red Peppers. Anyway, this Monday I created my latest crock pot miracle; homey stuffed peppers.  I didn’t want to make the meatloaf pepper version in my new cookbook so I used my own recipe tailored to the crock pot heating process and my schedule.

stuffed pepper

These peppers were well done and rather relaxed. It was hard to get a decent photograph. Trust me; they taste better than they look!

I got up early that morning and made some brown rice and I fried up my onion and ground beef.  It all went in the fridge.  When I stopped by after school to let the dog out I threw the rest of it together and turned the pot onto high.  Four hours later, I was getting a plate and silverware out and was able to eat a real home-cooked meal as soon as I fed my critters their supper.  Fantastic! You could make the filling the night before or that afternoon before baking it in the pot.  That is nice flexibility to use as a busy busy person.

Angie’s Stuffed Peppers

1 medium onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef; I like 90 percent lean

1 tbsp olive or canola oil

1 small garlic clove

½ a beef bullion cube

¼ to ½ tsp thyme

2 cups cooked brown rice

Sea salt to taste

4 medium green peppers

1 8 ounce can of plain tomato sauce

Heat a large frying pan, put in the oil, add the chopped onion; cook until somewhat soft; 5-7 minutes.  Add the minced garlic clove and stir.  Push the onion pieces to the edges and add the ground beef, brown it.  Add the bullion cube and thyme as it gets closer to browned.  Add the cooked rice. Use anything from no salt up to a tsp of sea salt in the filling.  I often use less as I don’t like salty food.  It is purely a matter of taste in this recipe.

green peppers

Cut the peppers off ½ inch below the top. Clean out the guts and steam them (lids too) for 6 or 7 minutes.  Drain any liquid from inside the peppers, let them cool a few minutes so you can handle the warm peppers and stuff them with the rice and meat mixture.

Put ¼ of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the crock pot.  Put a bit of the rice mixture on top.  Then the four stuffed peppers.  Distribute any remaining stuffing around the peppers.  Add 2-3 tbsp water to the pan around the edges (not in the peppers!), pour the remaining tomato sauce around the top of the filling and peppers and put the lid on.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours.  I was at work for 4 hours so that is how long I did mine.  They were quite done.  I did start with cold filling I had made that morning so I am thinking 3 to 3.5 hours would be enough time to cook this dish especially if you start with warm rice/meat filling.

My personal recipe notes:

You can use white rice if you are not into brown rice.  Another substitution would be ground turkey for the ground beef.  Use a bit more seasoning if you go the turkey route.  Red peppers are fantastic if you like them, even orange are very sweet and flavorful for stuffing. I have stuffed peppers with corned beef hash.  Maybe I will post that recipe someday soon…..

I personally like a touch of catsup on the side to add extra flavor.  Hearty and fairly healthy as you are getting brown rice, the green pepper, and tomato sauce and so yummy.  Add a small salad and your meal is complete: I enjoyed a salad of fresh garden tomatoes with a light vinaigrette dressing. Your hubby will cheer when you place this naturally gf meal in front of him!

Chocolate Egg Cream, Frothy, Flavorful and Super Easy

Sometimes I want something chocolaty but I don’t want a brownie, chocolate pudding or ice cream or even a chocolate bar.  I am simply thirsty.  Those are the times I reach for my Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup.  Lickety split I can make an old school drink that is low sugar, low fat and thirst quenching; the venerable chocolate egg cream.  Funny thing is, there is no egg in it and often no cream.  I sometimes do use half and half but you can make this with any sort of milk you like, even one or two percent.  I do discourage the use of skim or non fat milk, at least a little richness is required.

The chocolate egg cream is allegedly from Brooklyn, NYC.  The New York Egg Cream is a variation of the milkshake popular back from the 1880’s which had an egg beaten in it.  The version I have replicated became popular  many decades ago, partially because it was cheaper for soda fountains to make because it had no egg.  I am not a big fan of raw eggs in my drinks so I am happy indeed that this “modern” version is sans egg.  I have been making it for many years, one of my sisters taught me how.

This is such a simple recipe; get a tall glass, squirt about 1-2 tsp. of real Hershey syrup on the bottom, no substitute will do.

hersheyI never measure; just enough to cover the bottom.  Then pour in ½ inch depth of some sort of milk, your choice of richness.  Stir them together well with an ice tea spoon. choc drink

Add 3-6 ice cubes and fill the glass with well chilled seltzer water. Stir it again. I favor flavored seltzer, the raspberry or cranberry are particularly good for this drink as they add quite a bit of flavor and complexity to this simple little thirst quencher!  A fresh bottle makes the foamiest egg cream so I recommend you splurge and start with a new bottle for your drink preparation.

choco egg cream

Be sure to use a tall glass, it just won’t taste the same in a stubby little one!

So, next time you are longing for a refreshing low sugar soft drink but one with a subtle touch of chocolate, make a chocolate egg cream and smile because it is delicious, has no added sugar and if you use one percent milk it is pretty darn low fat.  Light, refreshing, the egg cream is a wonderful “throw back” drink you can enjoy any day of the week!

PS: I hear U-bets Chocolate Syrup from NY is the bomb in a chocolate egg cream. I have to get some 🙂