gluten free

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!

French Apple Tart….Ooh La La!

Tasty, crisp, ripe apples are pouring into the farmer’s markets and orchard stores right now.  This French apple tart is an old favorite of mine, been making it for years.  I once worked at an office where they would request it whenever we had an office function or party!  I have no idea where I got the original recipe from so I can’t give credit for it, I lost my copy and had to replicate the measurements a number of years ago. Plus, I had to change it a bit in the last time or two to make it gluten free but it tastes just as good as before.  The cinnamon and lemon topping are what makes it so delish.

french apple tart

It should be made with an apple variety that keeps its shape; Granny Smith is the best choice in that regard.  Don’t use one that goes all squishy like Empire or Macintosh.  You only need 3 large apples.

I use my GF tart shell crust which is from Annalise Roberts’ great cookbook; Gluten-Free Baking Classics.  It is very easy; hand pressed into your tart pan.  I would say that this is a cookie crust; sweet and short; very yummy.

It should give you about 6-8 slices of tart. Lesser amount of slices if your family is piggy, the full eight slices if they are not big dessert eaters. I rarely have any of this tart left over for more than 24 hours.  It is very popular with everyone.  I like it for how easy it is to make, how handsome it looks and that I can throw it together quickly with only 3 apples and a lemon.

Crust

1 cup brown rice flour mix; recipe below

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. xanthan gum

5 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, in 5 chunks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in a stand mixer, cut in the butter by mixing it at a med low speed until crumbly.  Add vanilla and mix well.  If it is really dry looking add a tbsp. of water.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of your tart shell as evenly as you can make it.

For this recipe I use a large 10 inch tart pan.  Mine is ceramic so it doesn’t have a removable bottom.   Bake it at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Filling

3 large Granny Smith apples; peeled and sliced – not thick or too thin

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. GF flour

Lay the apple slices in concentric circles in the tart pan over the crust.  Put them really close to each other so there isn’t a lot of space without apples on it.  Mix the sugar and flour and sprinkle over the apples.  Cover loosely with foil and bake 25-30 minutes until the apples are soft if pricked with a fork.  Do not bake until they collapse; the slices should still hold their shape.

While the tart is finishing up its baking time make the topping.

Topping

In a small heavy sauce pan place:

2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. cornstarch and mix them.

Add all the other ingredients:

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest (grate the zest and then juice the lemon)

½ cup water

½ tsp. cinnamon

Cook over medium heat, stirring it constantly with a small whisk or a spoon, until it boils and seems thickened and is no longer opaque.  This should take less then five minutes.  Remove from heat and pour the hot gloppy topping carefully over the hot apple tart taking your time so you cover the entire surface of the apples.  If you like lots of cinnamon you could increase that up to a tsp. of cinnamon in the filling.

Let cool to at least lukewarm before serving.

This tart is perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.  Don’t put it on top or it will not look so nice because of the French cinnamon topping won’t like to share its space with the chilly ice cream!

Brown Rice Flour Mix (for the crust)

2 c brown rice flour; be sure it is finely ground

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

Spaghetti Bacon Primavera, the Bacon Fest Continues!

The tomato season is winding down but I have a few around and I thought I would enjoy them with pasta at least once more.  This recipe is a blending of two different recipes from two different cookbooks. One is a pasta primavera which has a creamy tomato sauce and fresh veggies and the other is a classical pasta carbonara with bacon and parmesan cheese.  This is their offspring! Bacon primavera pasta, ta da!  I have made and love both recipes but I wanted to have all their flavors together in one dish so I threw this together earlier this summer for the first time. It turned really quite yummy.  I made it again tonight and my three year old grandson ate lots of it; he loves veggies.  It was just so tasty that I had to have seconds.  The photograph is of that second portion before I dove into its creamy, bacony goodness.

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So round up some garden veggies, a block of real Parmesan cheese, bacon and a decent box of spaghetti and whip this recipe up for a late summer treat. I used spaghetti but you could use any shape of pasta that floats your boat!  If you are a wheat lover this is easy to make with your standard pasta off the shelf.  Of course, I made it with GF pasta, Barilla to be exact and it really tasted like regular flour pasta when made with this sauce.

Spaghetti Bacon Primavera

Ingredients:

4 slices bacon, cut into ½ inch lengths

1 medium onion chopped

½-2/3 cup sliced yellow squash, 1/3-1/2 inch thick

½ to 2/3 cup sliced zucchini, same thickness

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 egg yolks

1 whole egg

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ lb GF spaghetti

1 tbsp. unsalted butter (optional)

Directions:

Heat a large pan of salted water and cook the pasta until just barely al dente, drain.  I do this cooking while I am cooking the veggies.

Saute the bacon in a large frying pan.  I used my mini wok which is great for many frying projects.  Cook while stirring constantly, for 3-4 minutes until rendering the fat is well underway; say half done bacon.  Add the onion and continue cooking while it softens. Stir often. After 3-4 minutes add the two kinds of squash. If you couldn’t get yellow squash just green is okay.  Keep stirring!  Cook a few more minutes until the squash is close to done.  Stir in the tomato halves and cook 1 minute. Mix the cream, eggs and cheese in a bowl.  Add the hot pasta to the frying pan and dump in the liquid from the bowl, stirring well.  Turn off the heat as soon as you dump it in.  Add the tablespoon butter, some sea salt and freshly grated pepper and stir a bit more.  Serve immediately.  If you like to guild the lily top with a good sprinkle of more grated Parmesan cheese.

Last time I made it I used some sliced red bell pepper, sweet onion and green squash. Yes on tomatoes, no on bacon; vegetarian style for my god daughter.  It was good but I think I prefer the bacon version.  So it is totally up to you as to which version you prefer to create.  I have also made it with half and half instead of heavy cream; works pretty well too.  Last time I used 3 whole eggs as I didn’t want to waste the whites. I left out the butter this last time, forgot it; still good. I slightly overcooked my tomatoes in the latest version but they were tasty non-the-less. I think it is a very flexible recipe, just the kind I like!  Enjoy an easy to throw together late summer Italian veggie feast!

Sensenig’s Meats Comes Through With Safe Yummy BBQ Pork for GF Festing

Another day, another search for a safe gluten free meal at Musikfest. Today I volunteered down under the bridge, near the Bethlehem Dairy Store braving the gluten demon pouring beer at the Beer Caddy spot not far from FestPlatz.  For my meal break I wanted to try something totally new so I passed by the corn stand where I could order an ear minus the seasoning mix.

I kept going all the way to Volzplatz.  There I located a BBQ stand near the very end of the food stands, Sensenig’s Meats & Catering that said they had a safe choice, a loaded baked potato.  It was topped with barbequed pulled pork and served with a squeeze tube of sour cream.  The manager assured me his pulled pork and his BBQ sauce were both GF.  He wasn’t sure about his shredded cheese that normally tops the potato so I skipped that at his recommendation.  It cost me 9 tickets a/k/a $9.

Worth every penny considering the cost of other food there and the quality of what I ate from their stand.  The bbq sauce was rich and flavorful. The pork meat was well roasted and very tasty.  I put on some regular bbq sauce on top of my bbq but didn’t try the hot sauce.  They had a couple of other sauces to pick from.  The potato was decently baked and the sour cream went really well with the barbequed pork.  Winner in both flavor and in filling my tummy.  Give it a try.

FYI: I asked at the Vietnamese stand at VoltzPlatz but their food was not safe for celiacs.  Up on Main Street there is a Vietnamese restaurant you can go in and eat inside and they do have safe food.  It is tough to fest GF but it can be done if you ask polite but essential questions and be very careful in your choices.

Musikfest Gluten Free…Not Easy but Possible

In the Lehigh Valley we have a big music festival in August every year, called Musikfest.  Ten days of free and paid music venues and lots of festival food.  I have been going for 30 years; missed the first year of it.  It used to be a place where I could enjoy waffles with ice cream and frozen strawberries topped with whipped cream, shared four ways; my sisters and I enjoyed that tradition every year.  Now I am GF and it is not so easy.  Below is my post of last summer and an update on so far this Musikfest.  musikfest 2014 2

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2013: Festing last week in Bethlehem was fun if slightly fraught for me. I was never sure what I would find to safely eat when I was there volunteering. The Saturday night I went with my sisters and our men to celebrate my dear sister Margie’s life, I didn’t eat anything there. The lines were long and I chickened out on asking the GF questions that have become so necessary to my continued good health.

Through the week I looked and looked. I did eat the Aw Shucks corn minus the seasoning. I had a chicken kebab minus the bread. On the last night I got adventurous and tried some kettle corn once the servers assured me it was gluten free. It was delicious! I also had some soft serve which was less than stellar although it was safe for me. I wished I had waited until I found the Bethlehem Dairy stand. Their ice cream is so good. It would have been worth the wait. Too bad I can’t eat their waffles anymore.

As to serving beer, I am considering doing wine service or serving cider. I did okay once I started rinsing my hands between beers. I will have to think about that aspect of volunteering there which I have loved for the past twelve years.

So next year, maybe there will be a stand serving GF food. Not hard if you just don’t sprinkle flour over the frozen fries, if you use corn tortillas, if you use rice seasoning that has no wheat in it. You can get GF burger and hot dog buns too. There are many good fair foods that could be easily made GF. Now I can only dream that someone will make it so….

Below is a brief 2014 Musikfest update:

No, I have found no GF stand, not yet anyway!  I have not gotten all around the fest.  I did find a walking taco in a bag that was safe; made with Doritos and the operator called the boss to check on the meat sauce and it was declared safe.  So I took the plunge and had one.  Pretty good and I didn’t feel ill later.  This was from a cash stand up by the Sun Inn in the little courtyard between the Sun and the corner building.

I had some BBQ pork Sunday minus the bun but with sauce that I was told contained no wheat.  It was less than inspiring and I won’t spend a fortune there (Leiderplatz BBQ stand) for anything else…

I am still pouring beer, endlessly rinsing my fingers and hands.  So far so good!  It is tough being the alcohol supervisor when you can’t even taste the beer to make sure it is the same beer pictured on the tap!

I need to get over to Voltzplatz and Handworkplatz to check out their food offerings.  I will be on the southside Thursday, and will see what is safe or reasonably safe there.  I want some plain roasted corn, too bad their seasoning sprinkle blend is unsafe…..And yes, ice cream in a cup and some kettle corn. Maybe I will find something in the protein family that is safe for me. Hope so!  I am not letting my GF status keep me from festing and having fun this August.