Remembering My Tia

This dish is a tribute to my Tia Elvira. Back-in-the-day, I was blessed to meet her even though we did not share the same language. My cousin had to translate our conversations. What my Tia and I did share was a love for good food. She was an amazing cook and I wish I inherited a fraction of her talent, but I did not. It doesn't stop me from trying to recreate one of my favourite dishes that she used to make, Portuguese Steak Sandwiches.  

I started with thinly sliced sweet onions, thinly sliced shallots, minced garlic and bay leaves.  

Add some red wine, olive oil, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, Portuguese pepper paste, and freshly cracked pepper.  

Toss in thinly sliced beef and mix well, leaving it to marinate.  

Add some lard to a roasting pan, add the marinated meat and roast until tender and desired doneness. Note:  adjust seasoning half way through, if desired, I added more salt, Creole Seasoning and lemon juice.  

These Portuguese crusty buns are not gluten-free so I won't be enjoying these ones. They are the type of buns that my Tia used to serve this dish. These ones will be for others. Hmmm, I wonder if there is a gluten-free version of Portuguese crusty buns?  

Happy Eats!  

  

Gluten-free Tabbouleh Salad

2 cups of cooked quinoa

1/4 cup finely diced shallots

1 yellow pepper

3 cucumbers

12 cherry tomatoes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Lemon and Veal Meatballs

It is not the veal that is the star of this dish, it is the lemons.  

Juice of 4 lemons

Zest from 5 lemons

1 cup of gluten free bread crumbs, soaked in lemon juice

3 lbs of ground veal

Gluten-free Montreal Chicken spice 

Gluten-free Garlic spread seasoning

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

I made a few meatballs to have with some gluten-free pasta.  

And the rest were made into mini-meatballs that went into the freezer to be used for soup at a later date. 

Happy Eats!  

Chicken Lemon Pesto Soup (Recipe tweaked)

I can't get enough of this soup! I loved the taste of the Chicken Lemon sausage that I picked up at Marcello's Meats. At $12.50 for three sausages, it is a little rich for my budget (but it was oh so delicious!). I decided to take inspiration from Marcello's chicken lemon sausages and this is what I did. I made mini-chicken lemon meatballs. Our local grocery store sells ground chicken so I started there.  

Ground chicken

Gluten-free bread crumbs

Milk

Grated lemon zest

Lemon juice

Gluten-free Montreal Chicken spice blend

Gluten-free garlic spice blend

Thyme

Chicken Lemon mini-meatballs

Chicken broth

Carrots

Celery

Leeks

Garlic

Baby Spinach

Green Onions

Pesto

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

White kidney beans

Parmesan cheese rinds

Untraditional, Yes!

This weekend we're celebrating Thanksgiving and I'm thankful that there is no turkey on the menu. Oh and I'm thankful for my family too.   

On the menu there was stuffed pork loin, mushroom gravy, roasted red and sweet potatoes with red onions and rosemary, green peas, caesar salad and gluten-free pumpkin pie from Lorenzo's. At Lorenzo's I was able to find gluten-free pumpernickel bread for the stuffing. They ran out by the time I got there but there was a mini-loaf that they let me have that worked out to be the perfect amount. Thank you!  

While the food was in the oven, there was time to set the table.

No croutons left over for the salad, de-lish non-the-less.  

Cheesey fall themed decorations for a simple centre piece.  

So thankful for so much. 

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating this weekend.   

A New Gluten-free Pasta

New Product:    Tolerant Brand Organic Red Lentil  Pasta

I found this pasta at Costco last week. The ingredient list: red lentils. That's it. I wasn't sure how it would cook and taste but I was willing to give it a try.

I have to tell you that I like it!!!  It cooks without breaking apart and it came out el dente. And it tastes good too. I should mention that I do like red lentils before I even tried this product.

Price wise, it is expensive compared to the regular wheat based pasta. It is comparable to other organic gluten free pasta products.   

Gluten-free red lentil pasta

Tuna

Lemon juice

Lemon zest

Capers

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Happy Mother's Day!

Mama R's favourite salad is Salad Nicoise making this an easy decision for Mother's Day eats. And there is Crab Quiche in the oven too.  

Happy Mother's  Day to all!  

    

Boiled diced potatoes

Steamed green beans

Hard boiled eggs

Sliced cherry tomatoes

Canned Tuna

Sundried black olives

Bed of romaine lettuce

1/4 cup diced shallots

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp freshly chopped basil

2 tsp freshly chopped oregano

1 tsp freshly chopped thyme

1 tsp dijon mustard

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend here. It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining and I'm blessed with family and friends. Today, I'm making dinner for the folks. I am thankful that they are in my life and to spend this beautiful day with them.

Sweet potatoes, red potatoes, shallots, white onions, red onions, avacado oil, rosemary, salt and pepper.  

Cornish Game Hens stuffed with lemon, garlic and rosemary.  Seasoned with salt and pepper and rubbed with butter.  

Plantains fried in avocado oil and seasoned with sea salt. 

Gravy with artichoke hearts. 

Sweet and Sour Cabbage from Bistro Dansk.  

Cornish Game Hens

Roasted Vegetables.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  

Nicoise Salad

Tomatoes, leftover roasted potato, hard boiled eggs, sun-dried black olives, fresh-from-the-garden string beans, fresh-from-the-garden lettuce and tuna.

Arrange on plate.  Drizzle with dressing.

Dressing:

1/2 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cup of olive oil
fresh thyme
fresh basil
freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp. gluten free dijon mustard

Share and enjoy the conversation and company.

Apple Honey Lemon Jam

This is so yummy, I could eat it by the spoonful.

6 cups of apples
1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Add in a large saucepan and bring to boil over medium low heat.  Cook for about five minutes then add:

1 cup honey
1 1/2 cup sugar

Cook more.... when you end up with a jam remove from heat and add zest from two lemons.

Scoop into sterilized jars.

Watermelon Lemonade

This is one of my favourite summer-time recipes. It is so simple to make, and delicious on a hot summer day!

6 cups of diced watermelon
1 cup of water
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemons.

Blend the watermelon and water until smooth.

Strain the liquid into a pitcher.

Add sugar and lemons.

Chill in the refrigerator or if you can't wait... add a few ice cubes to a glass, pour, and enjoy!

Now what to do with the watermelon pulp?

hmmm... add some freshly squeezed grapefruit and raspberry puree

Pour in the popsicle molds. Hide them in the freeze until the weekend to beat that +30 something temperatures heading our way.