Cooking with Booze: Gluten Free Beer Braised Pork Carnitas

Out of all the foods and beverages continually denied to a person with a gluten allergy, beer continues to be the most vexing to me.  I consistently feel like I am not able to sit at the cool kids table because I cannot partake in beer drinking.  No beer summits. No beer and bacon festivals. No Oktoberfest. No endless games of Beirut or Kings. LIFE SUCKS. A few fun facts about me and beer:

1. The only beer I remember trying other than Natty Light and Budweiser was Magic Hat No. 9.  I thought I was so cool and adult (I was 18. Shame, shame illegal drinking). Is that even considered a good beer? I don't know!

2. Even though I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2002, I didn't "officially" stop drinking beer until the spring of 2003. While I was intent on not letting a single gluten free crumb enter my body, I was a bit more relaxed in terms of gluten filled water aka beer. I also had joined a sorority and had trouble letting go of the drinking games. The last beer I drank was in the spring at a keg race we had with a fraternity. We lost, I got a major stomachache, and after that I never drank a sip of beer on purpose again!

3. Last year in Scotland I drank beer twice by accident.  One time I mixed up my cider with my friend's beer. Another time some nice Scottish man offered to buy me a drink and he thought I was drinking beer. As he presented me with a big pint of what I thought was cider, I smiled and said thank you and took one giant sip.....of beer.  It was traumatic but I couldn't just spit it out in front of him.....ergo another big stomachache for me.

Well, as the gluten free movement continues to march on, I'm finding my life much less suckier.  Not only are food companies bending over backwards to turn every day foods into gluten free accessible foods, but so are beer companies! A few years ago, there were maybe one or two gluten free beers on the market. They typically were made with a gluten free grain like sorghum or rice and they tasted....interesting. Since I haven't tried any "good" beers, my expertise in the beer tasting department is pretty piss poor.  But when I would make my non-gluten free friends try them they were mildly impressed.

A few months back I found a new gluten free beer company that peaked my interest.  Omission Beer doesn't use gluten free grains.  They use traditional beer ingredients; malted barley, hops, yeast, and water and are magically able to remove the gluten.  Don't ask me how they do it, but in my mind I'm envisioning Harry Potter like wizards swooshing their wands over vats of gluten beer and shouting "Glutinous minimous!"

So now that I finally have something that approximates the taste of actual beer (I made my sister try the lager style and she said it tasted like Sam Adams!), my first thought was let's cook with it! I've always been jealous of people able to braise or cook meat with beer, so after a quick perusal of epicurious.com, I settled on beer braised carnitas. Conveniently, I'm also currently obsessed with pulled pork and pork tacos, so let's just say it was meant to be.  For this recipe, I choose the lager style from Omission.  There is also an IPA (I tried that a few weeks ago. It tasted sort of like dandelions, in a good way) and a pale ale.

Last week I did another form of braised meat - short ribs - and this is similar in the sense that you're cooking a nice flavorful piece of meat on a low heat for an extended period of time. The good thing about this recipe is that you don't need to use your slow cooker and it will only eat up about 2 hours of your life.  It also has limited ingredients - which makes it fairly affordable.

I started out by trying to duplicate a recipe I found on epicurious.com, but of course I couldn't find the New Mexico dried peppers that were called for because my grocery store is incapable of ever stocking anything remotely interesting or ethnic.  So I had to make do by using chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce. These peppers are great to use if you need some smokey heat and don't feel like buying lots of expensive dried spices.  I also found I used more liquid than it called for. I was worried that these would get too dry, too fast, so upped the beer/liquid amounts.

I was happy about how these came out and sort of shocked that the whole process worked! I just didn't think 2 hours would be enough time to braise this meat and get it to the consistency I think of when I think of carnitas - that pull apart, stringy, yet super flavorful meat. Truthfully, this meat didn't remind me of beer or anything but it did have good flavor which I am sure can be happily blamed on the beer braise.  I also made some jerk shrimp to serve with the carnitas in case the recipe bombed - and while it didn't - surf and turf tacos ain't too shabby at all.

Now that I have a decent beer to cook with - what's next? Bratwurst? Beer can chicken? Chili!? Beer battered fish and chips!?? The possibilities are endless and I am very excited about it.  So don't fret, gluten free children.  Beer is back for you in a big way.

Beer Braised Carnitas

Makes meat for 8-10 tacos

3 peppers and some sauce from 1 can of chipolte peppers in Adobo sauce
1 2lb boneless, skinless pork shoulder cut into 2 inch pieces
3 garlic gloves, smashed
1 bottle of gluten free beer (or obviously regular beer if you're sans allergic)
1 cup of water
a few dashes of salt

Remove 3 peppers from the can and cut in half and scrape out the seeds.  If you want more heat, feel free to leave them in.  Add peppers and a bit of the Adobo sauce, chopped pork, garlic cloves, beer, water, and salt to a large pot - I used my pasta pot.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for 60 minutes with the cover on or until pork is fork tender. Remove the cover and continue to cook for 20 minutes until all the liquid evaporates and pork begins to brown.  Cook an additional 10 minutes, scraping up all browned bits on the bottom and continuing to shred and break up meat with a large spoon or fork.  It should start to shred easily.  Once the meat is all shredded and browned, add 1/2 cup of water and stir to create a little sauce.  Add more water if you feel like you want the meat to be more saucy. If you add more water, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with corn tortillas (warmed in the oven for a few minutes), guacamole, salsa, cilantro, and sour cream.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs: Time to Drag Out the Wedding Gift You've Never Used

Last fall, by the grace of God, my company gave everyone laptops. This meant a faster more enjoyable work experience (if that's possible!) but also that we could start working from home once a week. Working from home is the greatest thing since gluten free sliced bread that doesn't crumble.  Every Wednesday, I roll out of bed, wash my face, make a cup of tea, and turn on my laptop.  Boom, I'm a work.  No more 45 minute commute or lengthy wait in the Starbucks line because the cashier is super chatty that day and is like a drug pusher trying to get everyone to buy their damned croissants.

Work From Home Wednesday has also allowed me to do much more cooking (and cleaning, organizing, bill paying too boot) because I have all day to prepare something.  My sister calls it my "Housewife Day" because by the time she rolls in the door at 6:00, the house is spotless, I'm in an apron with dinner on the stove, and I have a glass of wine waiting for her.  BEST SISTER EVER.

Conveniently, my work from home day is also perfect for slow cooked meals.  Oh, the slow cooker.  I think everyone has such high hopes for their slow cooker and in most cases it just sits on the top of your fridge collecting dust. Kind of like those Tae Bo tapes you ordered or The Magic Bullet.  A popular shower/wedding gift, a slow cooker is GREAT in theory.  Oh, look at me. I just chop a bunch of crap, put it in this pot, and I have a meal in 8 hours! I can leave it unattended! Look, I can make BROWNIES in the slow cooker.  So yes, a slow cooker is great but it takes some strategic planning and basic math skills.  "Okay, so this slow cooked whatever is going to take 8 hours. So I have to get up at 8, and put it in by 10 so it will be done at 6." Who has that kind of grasp on their schedule during the weekday mornings? Not this chick!

But since I'm literally attending conference calls in my pajamas on Wednesday, it has given me more room to prepare and think about using my slow cooker.  Lo and behold, I decided that my last Work From Home Wednesday called for Slow Cooked Short Ribs!

Fun fact about me and short ribs: THEY ARE MY CULINARY SOUL MATE. One upping fettuccine Alfredo as my death row meal, short ribs are the most delicious things on the planet. Fall off the bone tender and slightly fatty, short ribs not only taste like heaven on bone, but they present really well.   If you make these for anybody they will think you are the best chef ever even if your best culinary achievement to date is not burning your toaster strudel in the morning.

Le Creuset "French" Oven.  I want one of these so bad it stings!

Now, I've made short ribs before in a Dutch oven which is the traditional way to do things.  Unfortunately, I still haven't sprung for the holy grail of cooking crockery yet - the Le Creuset Dutch Oven. These things are like a bajillion dollars and since a future bridal shower is looking a little dicey and/or I haven't been able to pay my electric bill in full in three months, it's probably not in the cards for another few years.  Some day, man. Some day. So I have this crappy Dutch oven that I bought at Marshall's for $12.00. It's good, but it cracked the last time I used it and would only fit about 2 good sized short ribs.  And here's where the slow cooker came in.....

I've made a few things in my slow cooker and I've been mildly impressed by them. However, these short ribs impressed me the most and it really was quite easy. To concoct this recipe, I looked up a few different recipes and then coddled them all together to create this masterpiece of meat.  The one thing to remember about cooking short ribs in the slow cooker or short ribs at all, is that they are very fatty. With this fat comes delicious flavor, as it breaks down during the whole cooking process. However, it can make for some seriously greasy sauce.  What I did this time that I haven't done in previous short rib attempts was try to remove as much grease from the sauce as possible. It bubbles up to the top, so you have to painstakingly skim it off the top, but it is worth it.  I served these short ribs with bacon and Gorgonzola grits but they would also be tremendous over polenta or mashed potatoes.

The best part of this meal was that it had oodles of leftovers.  And since I can't stomach eating the same thing for dinner twice in a row (what is this prison!?), I made short rib pizza with arugula, mozzarella, and caramelized onions for dinner the next night. Hands down one of the best pizzas I've ever made.

So the lesson to be learned here is ......stop neglecting that slow cooker and make these delicious short ribs!

Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Bacon Gorgonzola Grits


Makes 6 short ribs.

2 packages of short ribs (usually a package has 2 large ones and 1 smaller one)
package of mushrooms (sliced thin)
1T butter
1 T olive oil
3/4 of an onion, diced
12 gloves of garlic (peeled, smashed, and chopped lightly)
2 bay leaves
1 can of tomato paste
14 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
1-2 cups red wine

Salt and pepper short ribs on all sides.   Heat skillet over medium heat and add 1 T of butter and 1 T of olive oil.  Swirl pan to combine the two, and then add short ribs to skillet, about 3 at a time.  Brown on all sides and remove from skillet. Place in bottom of crock pot. Repeat with remaining short ribs.

Pour out all but 1 T of oil from skillet.  Add chopped onions and garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes till aromatic.  Add wine to de-glaze pan and cook for 1 more minute.  Add this mixture to top of short ribs in the slow cooker.

Throw the bay leaves, tomato paste, diced tomatoes and chopped mushrooms into the slow cooker. It should be filled to the brim at this point, but don't stress. Everything will start breaking down and combining once it starts to cook.  Turn heat to low and cover. Cook for 8 hours.*

After 8 hours is up, remove short ribs from slow cooker and place on plate. Cover with tin foil to keep warm.  Throw the remaining liquid from the slow cooker into a deep sauce pan.  Here comes the fun part.  Try to skim as much of the fat off the top of your sauce as possible.  Once you've done as much skimming as you can do, heat sauce to a roiling boil and reduce for 15 minutes.  This should thicken everything and bring some more grease to the top. Repeat skimming process if there is still a lot of grease in your sauce.  Add short ribs back into pan to reheat in the sauce. Serve 1 short rib and sauce over Bacon Gorgonzola grits.

Bacon Gorgonzola Grits

1 can of evaporated milk + water to equal 3 cups of liquid
1 cup of quick cooking grits
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Crisp bacon in small skillet and set aside on paper towel to cool.  Bring your 3 cups of liquid (evap milk + water) to a boil.  Slowly add grits and begin whisking immediately. Reduce heat to medium and continue whisking until grits starts to pull away from sides of the pan - about 2-3 minutes. Add bacon and crumbled cheese and stir.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Some people like thinner grits. If that's the case, you can thin with more milk or even water.  Just add and whisk away to your desired consistency.


*When I first made short ribs in the slow cooker, I didn't leave myself enough time. So I cooked it for less time on the higher heat setting. DON'T DO THIS. They came out horrible. Slow cooking takes patience so make sure you take the whole 8 hours.

Happy New Year + Blizzard Meals + Detox Days

See ya later 2013. It's be real!

I love January! Even though New England is usually buried in a few feet of snow and my weather.com likes to terrify me with scary phrases such as "Feel's like -14", I always really enjoy the first few days of the new year.  Not that 2013 was super dismal or anything, but I was glad to give it the old the heave ho. Like most people I like to make a bunch of New Year's resolutions that I don't intend to keep.  I've got a few pretty classic ones and some interesting smaller ones.  I'm hoping at least one of them sticks.  Here are a few ....

1. Learn how to load the dishwasher properly. 
2. Stop throwing lemons into the garbage disposal. 
3. Be nicer to my sister's cat. Too bad I just yelled at her with my "demon from hell" voice this morning.  
4. Get in biking shape for my biking tour of Provence in May.  I'm delaying signing up for the gym until all those other people who had the "work out" resolution fail miserably. More stationary bikes for me! 
5. Eat less pad thai.
6. Eat more kale.
7. Buy a dutch oven.
8. Buy a blender.
9. Buy some new sheets.
10. Get a laundry service.  

See? My New Year's Resolutions are ridiculously random and mostly filled with things that I need to buy to make my life better. But small steps, right? 

So as luck would have it, on January 2 Boston got a big, nasty snowstorm.  Normally, I would stock up on red wine and bad food and hibernate until some nice neighbor decided to shovel our sidewalk/deck for us. But I really wanted to start this year off right and cook something cozy yet really healthy.  I bopped on over to MindBodyGreen which is an excellent website to go to if you want to feel bad about yourself. Haha, just kidding.  It's a great website. Very healthy with tips on how to eat, love, shop, exercise, and breathe in a healthy and happy way.  When I feel like I need a healthy recipe, I always go here and so far I have not been disappointed.  I picked out a hearty Italian stew I saw a few weeks back that was tomato based and had lots of beans and spinach and superfoody flair. It also happened to be *gasp* VEGAN.  When I told my sister what we were having for dinner, she immediately freaked. Over here at Chez Dumas, we're about as far from vegan as you can get.  However, I'm a big believer in vegetables and am confident that they alone can carry a dish - especially cozy, comfy, soups.

What really won me over was the addition of tahini.  It's been awhile since I've used tahini. When I first moved to Boston and lived my with my older sister, she would make homemade hummus nearly once a week. Since then I don't think I've purchased the stuff once. It is so flippin' good.  Luckily, when I went to the grocery store prior to the nasty blizzard, there was an entire rack of tahini plunked right next to the eggs - a literal beacon of tahini. It was a sign! Anyways, what is cool about this recipe is you combine tahini with tomato sauce. At first I was like ew, that seems weird. But it actually thickened and added tremendous flavor to the soup. In that sense, it takes the place of cream or milk and is way better for you.  Normally, I don't like veggie soups because I despise veggie stock. I think it tastes like stick water, okay? But by dumping tomato sauce and tahini into the broth, it took it to a whole other level.  

While I did find this recipe on MindBodyGreen, I didn't use everything the recipe called for. The one thing about recipes from here is that sometimes they feature some weird stuff that is also impossible to find slash uber expensive. For instance, this recipe called for chia seeds. I did end up stumbling on chia seeds but once I saw their $12 price tag, I decided that we didn't need chia seeds that bad. I also left out the nutritional yeast (who needs it!) and switched out black beans for red kidneys. A few years back I went on this salt free diet and one day all I could eat for lunch was black beans. Let's just say I should  have invested in some Beano prior to black bean day.  So I guess I have a little black bean PTSD.  Maybe I'll try them again if I don't have any plans for a few days.....

So enjoy this soup - it's cozy, it's delicious, and surprise, surprise......it's VEGAN. 

Italian Superfood Stew 

Featured on MindBodyGreen - with some East of Eating adjustments. 

3/4 of a medium onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups veggie stock

1 package of mushrooms, sliced

3 cups spinach

1 can of white beans

1 can of red kidney beans

2 cups tomato sauce 

1/4 tahini butter

a few fresh basil leaves, shredded

a few dashes of Italian seasoning

salt and pepper 

1. Add 1T of olive oil to soup pan. Once hot, add onions and garlic.  Saute over medium heat till fragrant and onions are transparent, about 5 minutes.

2. Add mushrooms and continue to saute for 2 minutes. 

3. Add broth and increase heat to medium high.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Add spinach, beans, and basil and continue to simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes. 

4. In a separate bowl combine tomato sauce, tahini, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.  Pour into soup pot, stir, and cover. 

5. Continue cooking over high heat with cover on for 3 minutes.  Take the cover off and stir every minute or so.  Then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool before serving.  Yummy!

Jumping on the Pumpkin Bandwagon: Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese

When the calendar flipped to October 1, it was like my Facebook news feed virtually blew up with everything fall. It's something I like to salaciously refer to as a fall-gasm.  People exclaiming, "I LOVE FALL", and wearing sweaters and riding boots even though in most cases it was still about 75 degrees everywhere. By a show of hands, who has visited an apple orchard in the last week? And has taken pictures of fall foliage with the hashtag #nofilter? So yes. People love fall. Sadly, I'm not one of those people. I would say I like fall slightly less than most people.  First of all, I'm a spring baby and no one can convince me that fall trumps May 19th because it just don't. Also, my fall and winter wardrobe is the pits. Tights?! Arg. Also, I miss the beach and good smelling sunblock. But my biggest beef with fall is.....What is with all the pumpkin?! Once fall hits, suddenly pumpkin becomes injected into everything.  Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin beer, pumpkin cider,pumpkin hot chocolate, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin hair gel. Hell, I'm surprised Colgate doesn't come out with  pumpkin toothpaste around Halloween every year. Maybe they do, and I'm just blocking it out.

Punching pumpkins like it's my bizness

So most years I'm all like, "Down with pumpkin" and I go on being the equivalent to The Grinch that Stole Christmas. Just call me the Gluten Free Grinch that Stole the Autumnal Equinox.   However, now that I'm doing this ole blog again, I decided what better time to release my demons and jump on the pumpkin bandwagon once and for all. If you can't beat them, join the pumpkin lovin' bonanza!!

Tossing and turning one night after a touch to late in the day cup of tea, I stumbled upon the idea for pumpkin macaroni and cheese. When I learned to make mac and cheese from scratch a few years back, it became one of 10 or so dishes on my rotating menu. I never get sick of it. It's easy and quick and it's always delicious.  You can find my original blog post on making classic mac and cheese, including step by step instructions on making the GF roux here. 

While pumpkin in itself isn't sweet, it seems as if most things that pumpkin ends up in are in fact sweet. I wanted to pair the pumpkin with a little savory sweet, which is why I went with the caramelized onion. I balanced that out by adding the crust of blue cheese. This is a pretty multi-step recipe, so I suggest saving this for a nice Saturday or Sunday afternoon cooking session.  You can light your autumn harvest candles, wear a bulky sweater, and have a fallgasm in the privacy of your own kitchen. 

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese

Ingredients

Onion

Sugar

2 T butter

1 cup of water

salt and pepper

One pie pumpkin

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

3/4 bag of GF pasta

2 T butter

1 1/2 T GF flour

2 cups milk

garlic clove, smashed

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

4 oz or so blue cheese, crumbled

1. First up, roast your pumpkin.

I was able to buy a smallish size pie pumpkin from Trader Joe's for this recipe. Thank goodness because I was traveling by bus. Cut the handle portion and bottom off so it will lay flat on the counter. This way you can cut it in half without fear of impalement. Cut pumpkin in half and scrape out seeds.  Set seeds aside.  Sprinkle two halves of pumpkin with olive oil, salt, and pepper and place cut side down on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until pumpkin is nice and soft.  Remove from oven and let cool and then scrape out your pumpkin and mash it up.  Add a little salt and pepper and set aside.

Also, don't forget to bake your seeds! Remove all the guts from the seeds and sprinkle with salt. Place on a separate cookie sheet and you can bake them in the oven with the pumpkin for about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with a bit more salt and set aside. 

2. Next, caramelize your onions.

You can do this way ahead of time and I suggest you do. Caramelizing onion takes awhile and like any good food it can't be rushed. However, I was able to find a small loophole in terms of onion caramelization that I will share with you to make this process a bit more bearable and fool proof. When I first attempted to make caramelized onions, I ran into a myriad of problems. My pan was too hot, the onions cooked too fast, the onions burned, the sugar burned. Bah. I nearly gave up. Instead of losing all hope, I learned of a technique that allows for essentially mess up proof onions.  I'm sure Julia Child is rolling in her grave but I'm sorry Jules. I just don't have your culinary prowess! Forgive me.

Sinfully adding water to my caramelized onions to speed them along

So, start by cutting onion into rings.  Add butter to a saucepan and turn heat to medium. Once butter is melted, add onions and stir.  Shake one t of sugar and a dash of salt and pepper onto onions. Stir to coat.  Keep heat at medium. After about a minute or once you start to see the onions start to stick to the pan, add a splash of water and stir.  Keep doing this every time you see the liquid decrease to levels where it looks like the onions will start to burn or stick to the pan. I also usually add a little salt, pepper, and a dash of sugar every now and then too.  Basically by adding the water, you're not only preventing the onions from overcooking too quickly, but you're making a little speedy sugar/water sauce that will coat the onion and keep everything a nice brown color.  Now this process will still take some time.  I would say a good 20 minutes or so of constant stirring and adding a little bit of water each time things start to stick. But once the onions are a good light brown color and they fall apart when you try to cut them with a fork, they are done. Remove from heat and put in a bowl to cool.


3. Make your pumpkin cheese sauce

Add butter to sauce pan and place heat at medium high.  Once butter melts, add flour and stir about 1 minute.  Add milk slowly, whisking as you pour it in. I've started to add a smashed garlic glove to my cream sauces. It adds a great dimension and pairs well with the pumpkin.  You can throw that in now if you'd like. Reduce heat to medium and keep whisking until sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add cheddar cheese and then taste. Add salt and pepper to season to your liking.  Next, add about 1 cup of your mashed up pumpkin that you roasted previously. Stir it all together and then set aside.

4. Boil pasta

5. Put it all together.  Once pasta is cooked and drained, add your pumpkin cheese sauce and stir.  Take the remainder of your pumpkin mash and carmelized onion and add it to the pasta.  Mix everything together and place in baking dish.  Top with crumbled blue cheese and place under the broiler for 3 minutes until blue cheese is nice and bubbling. Remove from oven and top with pumpkin seeds.

God, that's good stuff

So this recipe totally won me over. I may not have fallgasmed but pumpkin certainly has earned a spot in my culinary repertoire.  However if you see me with a pumpkin latte in my hand anytime between now and December 21st, feel free to kick me!

Who Needs Carvel? Make Your Own Ice Cream Cupcakes!

Not that Carville!

In the gluten free world, good cakes are hard to come by. Yes, I am well aware that a lot of mainstream cake mix brands are now churning out GF cake mixes and I sincerely appreciate the effort. Actually, for my last birthday Andre made me a yellow cake from the King Arthur brand. It was so tasty that I ate it for breakfast for three days straight. Best breakfast you shouldn't be eating! However, GF cakes are still pretty crumbly and the texture is somewhat off from the gluten filled varieties.  Piggy-backing on the theme of my last post in which I told you that my sister is basically a gluten free saint, for her birthday last week, she decided to forgo a traditional birthday cake this year and instead let me try out a new recipe for none other than GF Ice Cream Cupcakes!

You devil you

I fracken love ice cream cakes and despite being made of ice cream they are not gluten free because of the crunchy bottom layer made from chocolate cookie crumbs. Damn you Carvel! Well I figured that it would be pretty easy to make a gluten free version. Plus, sometimes it's just better to have a cupcake. Single serving. All to yourself. Cupcakes rule.  All I needed to de-glutenify this recipe was gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies. I know Trader Joe's has a GF version of their Joe's Os now. But I actually opted for a brand I found at Shaw's - actually one of my favorite GF brands (and the most ridiculous to spell. But it's Canadian, so I'll cut them some slack.) called Kinnikinnick. Despite these Oreo-like cookies coming in at a whopping $6 a package, they made a perfect ice cream cupcake crust.

Now, for the ice cream portion of the cupcakes you have a lot of GF options to choose from. Barring any ice creams that contain cake pieces, brownie pieces, or cookies pieces, I would say most ice cream is gluten free. But always check the label just to be sure.  Now for Andre's birthday cupcakes, I decided to crank up the difficulty factor and do a Neapolitan version.  For some reason, Neapolitan ice cream is a new favorite in the Dumas household. The three flavor combo is just the best of three worlds to both of us and while years ago I would have absolutely died if you tried to make me eat strawberry ice cream, now I kind of love it!

All in all these are a pretty easy, no bake dessert option. I made it about 10 times harder by doing a Neapolitan version, but if you used just one flavor of ice cream the process is super simple.   So...onward Christian solider!

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cupcakes

You will need:

Package of GF chocolate sandwich cookies - I used about 6 to 8 cookies to make 6 ice cream cupcakes. You can average about 1 cookie per crust. 

2T of melted butter

ice cream 

icing (optional)

Start by crushing GF cookies in a mixing bowl. I don't currently own a food processor, but man that would have been handy. However, I ended up using my potato masher and after a great upper body workout, my cookies were crushed!

Then add melted butter and combine.  Cookies should be to the consistency that when you press them down that they hold together. 

Fill cupcake pan with cupcake liners and press cookies into each liner up to about a half of an inch.  

Remove ice cream from freezer and soften for a few minutes.  You can also speed up the process by scooping out the ice cream and manically stirring it till it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream. That's the route I chose. I have patience problems no doubt.  Spoon softened ice cream into cups and then spread into an even layer. Place back into freezer (about 10 minutes or so) to harden and then you can add some icing if you want to.  

Make your own soft serve ice cream!

Now for this Neapolitan version, I had to make three separate layers - one chocolate, one vanilla, and one strawberry. So what I did was cut out each flavor from the carton and do the whole melting thing one flavor at a time. You'll need to make sure the previous flavor has stiffened up enough in the freezer that you can build the next layer on top. This takes some extra time but left me with that cool layered effect and the possibility of getting one bite where all flavors were represented. Amazing! 

Originally I wanted to try out the cool new Cool Whip Icing that is currently out now, but I had a senior moment at the grocery store and totally forgot it.  So I ended up just using traditional cake frosting and it was pretty tasty.  Next go round I'm definitely going to give the Cool Whip a whirl. 

Be prepared to eat these little delights real fast, as they tend to melt really quickly.  But they were insanely delicious and a great way to ring in Andre's 27 years.

For my next post, bring on the sweaters and boots. It's officially fall and everyone has gone pumpkin crazy, including me. I'll be tackling Pumpkin Mac and Cheese.   

Party Time, Excellent

This past weekend I was busy putting together a menu for my lovely sister's 27th birthday. Since I was a little short on dough for a really fancy, expensive dinner and Andre isn't much into loud, birthday bar crawls, I thought the best way to celebrate her 27 years of existence would be to compile a birthday feast that would highlight some of her favorite foods. While Andre does not have celiac disease, she very sweetly will eat all of my gluten free creations. If you ever have doubts that gluten free cooking can be delicious, just give her a call. She's one of my greatest gluten free champions and has been such a good sport at trying all my various creations. So thank you Andre!

Now as luck would have it, poor little Andre was sick this weekend. I blame this on the see-sawing phenomenon that we now call the weather. 80 degrees one day, 55 the next. So cruel Mother Nature, so cruel.  Since the birthday girl spent most of the weekend napping and could barely taste or smell anything, I decided to abridge the 5 course menu I had planned and focus on a few apps, some soup, and the piece de resistance - dessert!

So for today's Party Time theme I'll first be focusing on these tantalizing One Bite Shrimp and Grits. Later this week.......Neapolitan Ice Cream Cupcakes!

One Bite Shrimp and Grits

When I started menu planning, I knew I had to incorporate Shrimp and Grits into the menu somehow. Not only has Shrimp and Grits really been making a comeback but it is one of the top five things that I make that Andre truly adores. So I attempted this "mini" version.  I called it one bite but I have to be honest - it ended 

up being quite the mouthful of grits. So it's totally excusable if you find you have to take a fork and knife to these suckers. You will need:

Mini muffin pan

3/4 c Grits

Evaporated Milk (12 oz can)

Water

1/2 cup shredded cheese

4 or 5 strips thick cut bacon

20-30 medium shrimps

Old Bay Seasoning

Grits

I like to buy the Quaker grits. They are cheap and convenient and cook up quite fast. Here's a little secret when making grits. Use 2 parts evaporated milk to 1 part water. Make sure you get evaporated milk and not sweetened condensed milk. I always confuse the two. (Sweetened condensed is super sweet and thick and would be disastrous in a savory dish like this one!) This makes them really creamy and then you don't have to load them up with too much cheese.  

Combine 1 cup water and 2 cups evaporated milk in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add grits and reduce head to medium so that grits are simmering not boiling.  Start whisking and keep whisking until grits starts to gain some heft. When they start pulling away from the sides of the pan (3-5 minutes) remove from heat and add some shredded cheese (1/2 cup) and pepper. Salt to taste.  Using two small spoons (like you would for cookie dough) scoop grits into mini muffin pan and let set for 30 minutes. Once they have completely cooled, remove from pan and set aside. 

Shrimps

Peel shrimps and set into bowl. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil (1 T) onto shrimps. Sprinkle on Old Baby Seasoning liberally - make sure shrimps are coated and then massage spice into them. Old Spice has a really kick to it, so be liberal but don't go nuts. 

Cut bacon into chunks and crisp in skillet. Remove with slotted spoon and place on plate covered with paper towel. Pour out all but 1 T of bacon grease. 

Reheat pan with one T grease and add shrimp. Cook until pink and cooked through 3 minutes or so. Remove from heat. Once cooled, lay shrimps flat and cut in half so you have two flat pieces per one shrimp.

Reheat your grit cups in 300 degree oven for a few minutes to warm through.  Remove from oven and top with one flat piece of shrimp and one shard of bacon. 

I thought these came out excellent and Andre did too. We polished off almost 10 each! Hey, let's remember  - this was basically our dinner....plus about 3 other things! From these pictures, you can tell I add a little sauce with red peppers. I wasn't too thrilled with it.  I didn't think it added anything and it added an extra step, no I nixed it from this recipe. I think the Old Bay is all the season you need for these.

So have a party, make some one bite shrimp and grits, and invite me over!

Next post, I conquer the uncharted territory (at least for me) of ice cream cupcakes!

Getting the Band Back Together

Well it's official. I'm back. Back again. Emily is back. Tell a friend.  No, seriously tell a friend. Tell lots of friends.

My last post was literally a year and six months ago. Wow. In that time a few things have happened and sadly none of them involve winning the lottery or meeting Dick Van Dyke, which were the only things I thought could truly put this blog on the bench. But let's see. Since I last wrote a post I have turned 30 (yee-haw!), hiked 100 miles in Scotland, and bought several pairs of cropped pants in multiple colors and prints. Phew. Talk about crossing things off my bucket list!

In more important, blog related news, I reached my 10 year Celiac birthday in June of 2012. What a time to be a Celiac! If you would have told me 10 years ago that there would be restaurants with gluten free menus, a whole aisle dedicated to gluten free foods at the grocery store, and countless articles in magazines from Vogue to Allure on the benefits of going gluten free, I would have slapped you in the face and called you crazy.  But we live in a different world now. My pool of gluten free allies has grown ten-fold. Now, not only do I have a standing gluten free dinner with some of my non-gluten free friends, but people are popping out of the woodwork right and left with either full blown Celiac Disease or a want to eliminate gluten from their diets to alleviate various health problems. My best friend (who lives in Germany - Gutentag Rebe!) was just diagnosed with Celiac a few months ago. Hell, my mom even eats a gluten free diet now! These days you can't even throw an overpriced, cardboard tasting, crumbly piece of gluten free bread without hitting someone who is gluten free. What a world, what a world!

So I took this all as a sign that I need to get back out there, back out there spreading my certified gluten free oats if you will. So you'll notice I jazzed up my blog design a little bit. Isn't the multi-colored flatware much more inviting? I'm also going to try to stream-line my recipes. I'm shooting for less anecdotes about my cat (love you April!) and more food, food, food.  With that said, on with the show!

Today's recipe is..........Veggie Lover's Spaghetti and Meatballs! 

Now upon first reading that title you might think I'm absolutely nuts. I mean she puts carrots in her meatballs? Sacrilege! And while on some days I certainly am pretty nuts (just ask my roommate/sister) this recipe is as sane as it gets! On Fridays there is a farmer's market in Copley Square and I thank my lucky stars every day that I work right nearby.  This past Friday I got a whole smorgasbord of veggies. Now, I'll admit, normally I would not use all of these together. However, recently there's been a serious dearth of vegetables in my life. Last week, I was just so happy to have some produce in my house for once that I went a little bit overboard with this recipe.  I got one giant spaghetti squash, a large head of kale, fingerling potatoes, broccoli crowns, and a nice head of cauliflower.  I had planned on using some leftover pasta and tomato sauce I had frozen last week to make a really exciting Friday night leftovers dinner. Meh, no.  But now that I had a plethora of veggies at my finger tips, I decided to go whole hog. This recipe is going to be a bit willy nilly and I'm going to somewhat briefly explain the steps . So hang in there.  I would describe my style of cooking as - "what else can I throw into this to make this taste better?!?" - and that's basically what I did here. Of course if you're a true veggie lover, you can leave out the meatballs and it will be just a really great faux pasta with lots of veggies kind of a thang.

Things you'll need

Veggies

Spaghetti Squash
Kale
Broccoli
Oil
Salt and Pepper
Garlic - a few cloves minced

Meatballs

Ground beef, turkey, veal, or pork 1 lb
Onion  - 1/2  of one chopped
Garlic - a couple cloves, minced
Carrot - peeled and cut into tiny pieces
Worcestershire Sauce - a few (Harlem?) shakes
Mayo - 1 T
Dijon Mustard - 1T
Smashed up tortilla or potato chips [put a few chips in a bag and smash 'em up]
Salt and Pepper

Sauce

Butter -1T
GF flour - 1T
Milk - 1.5 c
Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
Chicken Stock - a 1/2 cup [optional]


First - prep and roast your spaghetti squash.  There are couple of ways of doing this. You can either use a microwave or an oven and you can cut the squash or not. It's a free for all basically! If you have the time I suggest just halving it, sprinkling it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and putting it on a cookie sheet cut side up. Roast for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven and remove. Let cool for a few minutes and then rake a fork across flesh to create your "spaghetti".  Set aside.

Next, make your meatballs.  Throw ingredients listed above in bowl and combine with hands.  Roll meat into mini meatballs. I found the best way to make gluten free meatballs is to always follow three rules. One: Make them mini. Two: Bake them in mini muffin pans. You can even use regular muffin tins and just put a few meatballs per cup. Three: Use crushed up GF chips as a binder. While traditional meatballs use breadcrumbs, I've found that a good GF switch is to use either crushed potato or tortilla chips. It binds the meatballs but also ensures they remain succulent. Trust me. These techniques will change your meatball lovin' life. Stick into oven while spaghetti squash is cooking  and cook for about 10 minutes until no longer pink yet still moist.  Remove from oven.

Then make your veggies. I roasted the broccoli by cutting my head of broccoli into smaller chunks. I placed them in a bowl and added a bit of oil, salt, and pepper and tossed to coat. Next, spread broccoli on cookie sheet and bake in oven with spaghetti squash and meatballs. Make sure you stir the pieces around every few minutes because broccoli tends to stick to the cookie sheet and get a little burned. Keep an eye on it - probably only 5-7 minutes or so.

Cut kale leaves from backbones.  I like to do this because the backbones tend to be a little bit tough to chew. Chop leaves and rinse with cold water.  Put a little bit of oil in a pan and add your kale leaves. Saute for a few minutes till they reduce in size. Like spinach, you'll start with a lot of kale but once you lose some of the water from the leaves the amount will shrink. After a few minutes add some chopped garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat and cook another minute or so, then remove from heat.  I always add the garlic at the end because the hot pan tends to scorch it if you add it at the beginning.

Last but not least - the sauce.  You can use any sauce you want with this. A homemade tomato would probably be stellar.  I opted for a garlic cream sauce.  I did this by doing the following. Melt better in pan. Add 1 T of GF flour to make a roux. Mix for 30 seconds, then add milk and chopped garlic, whisking as you pour in the milk.  Continue to whisk and bring to a simmer but do not let it boil over.  At this point, sauce should start to thicken. If sauce can coat the back of a spoon, you're good to go. If too thick add some chicken or veggie stock to thin it out. If you want it more cheesy, throw in some cheese at the end. Fontina melts well and adds a nice richness. Gorgonzola or blue cheese would add a tangy zip!

Finally....assemble! Add hot sauce to spaghetti squash that you set aside.  Place into large bowl.  Top with your roasted broccoli, kale, and veggie lover's meatballs.

Reviews from my sister - "Wow, this tastes just like pasta!".  Mission complete!