Is it still Gumbo if I didn't add the Okra?

My friend Chris thinks I should call it "Gumb". He said the "o" in Gumbo stands for okra. And hense his logic. Works for me. Anyway, here is how it came together.

Cook onions, celery, red pepper, parsley, and garlic with 1 tbsp. olive oil for about 8 minutes. Add 1/4 cup gluten-free flour, stirring constantly. Add cumin, paprika and oregano.

Add Italian hot sausage, tomatoes and 6 cups of seafood stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook until it thickens slightly.  

Add tiger shrimps. Season with salt, freshly cracked black pepper and cayenne pepper.

Sunday morning coffee

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Baked Mac & Cheese

Boil gluten-free macaroni in salted water until done.
When it has reached desired doneness remove from heat and drain.
Set aside.  Meanwhile... 

over medium heat melt 2 tablespoons butter, stir in 2 tablespoons of gluten free flour,
stir until it bubbles and thickens.
Add 1 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.
Remove from heat and season with a pinch of paprika and freshly cracked black pepper.
Add 2 1/4 cups of cheese (I like to use about 1 3/4 cup marble cheddar and the rest parmesan cheese).

Pour sauce over cooked macaroni, toss to mix well.  Pour into a buttered baking dish.  

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. 

Roast Lamb and Vegetables

Sunday dinner have always meant roast meat and roast vegetables. I guess it is the idea of Sunday dinner that came from my childhood in the 1960s. Both my parents were are excellent cooks and contributed to the family meal. Mom would cook the roast and Dad would come by later to use the pan drippings to make a baked rice dish. As I child, I always looked forward to Sunday dinners.  

Today's Sunday dinner is roast lamb. I trimmed off most of the fat before I seasoned it with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.  

And then I went to work making a marinade for the lamb.  The zest of one lemon, the juice of one lemon, dried rosemary, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of port.

And for the roast vegetables chop 3 red potatoes, 1 sweet potatoes, 1 large white onion, a handful of shallots. Season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and dried rosemary.

Roast the vegetables in a 400 degree F oven until tender to the fork. Be sure to give them a toss now and then. Cook the lamb in a 400 degree F oven for the first 20 minutes.  Lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and finish roasting to your desired doneness. Lamb should be between 170-175 degrees F when tested.  

Jamaican Banana Bread

I managed to tweak one of my favourite Banana Bread recipes a while back. I first discovered this recipe in the March 1997 issue of Cooking Light. I've held on to this issue all these years even though you can now find the recipe easily online at allrecipes.com.

But I have to tell you I was pretty happy when the recipe worked with gluten free flours. I used 2 1/2 cups of flour, a combination of coconut flour, sourghan flour, gluten-free all-purpose bean flour, and tapioca.

I also substituted gluten-free baking powder and baking soda and used xanthan gum.

I didn't have pecans on hand so I substituted chopped walnuts inside the cake. And I used sour cream instead of cream cheese.

Still de-lish!