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!  

  

Thai Chicken & Coconut Soup

I discovered the most aromatic and de-lish soup recipe. It is from Emeril's cookbook Sizzling Skillets and Other One Pot Wonders but you can also find the recipe on Emeril's website over here. 

You might want to print this recipe ASAP before it disappears because this one is a keeper. And it is gluten-free too!  

This is the second pot of Thai Chicken & Coconut Soup that I've made and I did tweak it a wee bit according to the ingredients that I had at home. Instead of vegetable oil, I used avocado oil.  I replaced the Thai chilies with a heaping teaspoon of Sambal Oelek. Mushroom stock replaced the chicken stock. And I used chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts. Even still with the changes this is still delicious. Thanks Emeril!  

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

Ham, Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya

Nothing says the holidays better than a big pot of Jambalaya

lard from spare ribs

white onions

celery

shallots

red bell peppers

homemade sausage and reserved cooking liquid

ham

tomatoes

beef broth

jasmine rice

sea salt

freshly cracked pepper

cayenne pepper

green onions

shrimp, peeled and deveined

Happy New Year and Good Eats!  

Braised Short Ribs

Bison Short Ribs

Fresh Thyme

Minced Garlic

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Fennel

Onions

Celery

Beef broth

Seared and then cooked slowly in a low oven for about four hours until the meat just falls off the bone...

Serve with braised red cabbage.  

Curried Rabbit

Portuguese style braised rabbit, cut into pieces

roughly chopped boiled new potatoes

minced shallots

Trinidadian curry sauce

Gluten free roti shells

Crustless Crab & Mushroom Quiche

This is the second time that I made this crustless quiche. I found the recipe in the Looneyspoons cookbook. I had a few ideas as to how I wanted to tweak the recipe. 

1. The first time I used canned crab meat, not this time. Since I had one can left, I did use that but the remaining crabmeat was found in the deli section of Costco. Huge difference in taste! 
2. Instead of parmesan and cheddar cheese I went with feta. 
3. I left out the onions and garlic and went with shallots. 
4. And I raided the herb garden with the exception of the dried dill.  

3 cups sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped shallots

1 yellow pepper, diced

2 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. butter

In a skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil, add the mushrooms, shallots and pepper and cook until soft, about seven minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile in a large bowl mix the following ingredients.  

6 eggs

3/4 cup of evaporated milk

1 tsp. fresh oregano

3 large basil leaves, chopped

1 tsp. dill

1 cup feta cheese

Sea salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup crab meat

Pour into a greased quiche dish. Bake for 45-60 minutes until firm to the touch.

This adapted recipe is a keeper!

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

Cookbook Love

I made a tray of Ooo-la-la-sagna from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Looneyspoons Collection. I left out the red pepper flakes since I used hot Italian sausage in this recipe. Oh and I threw in some chopped sweet yellow peppers and shallots. I also used gluten-free lasagna noodles (corn and quinoa) that I didn't have to pre-cook--easy!  

Seriously, if you don't have this cookbook in your collection this is one that you should pick up and they have many gluten-free recipes in here too. The recipes that are not gluten-free are easily adaptable like the sweet potato crust on their Hungry Guy Chicken Pies recipe. I just substitute gluten-free flour for the regular flour they call for in the recipe and it worked out great.

I haven't found a recipe in this book that I don't love.

Baked Eggs

Marinated Artichoke Hearts

Red Peppers

Eggs

Shallots

Ham

Gluten-free bread crumbs

Flaxseed

Mozzarella Cheese

This time I layered the marinated artichoke hearts on the bottom of the buttered dish. I enjoyed the tender texture of the artichokes using this method.  

Spaghetti Squash Latkes

Minced Shallots

Minced Ginger

Cooked Spaghetti Squash

Grated Potato

Ground Cumin

Freshly Cracked Sea Salt

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Eggs

Gluten Free Flour

Grapeseed Oil

Serve warm with honey flavoured Greek yogurt!  

Creole Style Chicken-a-la-King

A basic Chicken-a-la-King recipe kicked up a whole bunch of notches!  

Butter

Celery

Red Peppers

Wild Mushrooms

Onions

Shallots

Garlic

Gluten-free flour (I used Cloud 9 all-purpose blend, available at Costco)
Thyme

Gluten-free Creole Spice 

Milk

Chicken Stock

Left-over Roast Chicken

Serving suggestions:  Serve on sprouted brown rice, quinao, or roasted spaghetti squash.  

Ham and Chorizo Jambalya

The start of a good Jambalya: bacon drippings, bell peppers, white onions, shallots, garlic, chorizo...

Melt the bacon dripping. Add the onions, bell peppers, shallots, garlic and celery. Cook for about 7 to 8 minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Then add chorizo and ham, cook for another 5 minutes.

Add jasmine rice that has been rinsed, chopped tomatoes and about 3 cups of beef stock. Season with gluten free creole spice and fresh cracked pepper.  

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and this is the hard part...

Wait for about 30 to 45 minutes as the simmering goodness fills the kitchen with wonderful smells.

But it is so worth the wait!

Gluten Free and It Freezes Well Too!

This dish is a way that I can eat lamb without making a roast or have left-overs to deal with. This my friends is Irish Stew ready for the slow cooker. It freezes well too so I'm able to put it into individual containers and freeze for a later time. Perfect for those chilly winter evenings. Just make sure you use a gluten-free beef broth and coat your lamb pieces with a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend first.

Serve it up with some hot-out-of-the-oven gluten-free cornbread.

Mushroom and Cornish Game Hen Soup

Yesterday was nippy outside, today it is down right cold! It feels like a north wind that is blowing out there. Perfect weather for soup.

Mushroom and left-over cornish game hen was the foundation for this pot of soup. Add some shallots, freshly minced ginger, carrots, celery, flavourful water from a previously cooked home-made chorizo, mushroom stock, thyme, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Happy Eats!  

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!  

Ham and Sausage Jambalaya

This is one of my favourite meals on a chilly winter day... actually, it is one of my favourite anytime meals.

 I started with 1/4 cup of lard. Yes, I said lard, or bacon drippings if you prefer. Trust me on this one. I once made this dish with olive oil. It is not even close to the level of deliciousness that lard brings it to.

Add one small onion, and several shallots. You can use garlic instead of the shallots if you prefer.  Add three celery stalks. If I had a green pepper on hand I would have added 1/2 pepper. Saute for about five minutes or until the vegetables are starting to soften.

Add about 1 cup of diced ham and 1 cup of spanish chorizo or a homemade spicy smoked sausage. Continue to cook for about 8 minutes.  Add 2 cups basmati rice that has been rinsed. Cook for about five minutes. Add 2 diced tomatoes and 3 cups of stock. If I had used homemade sausage, I would use the reserved cooking liquid.  Season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and cayenne pepper.

Reduce heat. Cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, approximately 45 minutes. Add green onions, adjust seasoning if needed and enjoy!

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.  

Pot Luck!

Later this afternoon I'm getting together with my brothers, I guess you can say for a pre-New Year's fete of sorts. It is a pot-luck do and I'm bringing Southwestern Pulled Pork that I prepared in the slow cooker.  One of my brothers will be bringing the buns.  I wonder if he'll remember to pick me up a gluten-free bun?

Anyway, here is how it all came together:  

1 teaspoon of olive oil

2 large onions, diced

8 cloves of garlic, minced

8 shallots, minced

2 tablespoons of chilli powder

a good grind of the pepper mill

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 cups of chilli sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

couple of splashes of liquid smoke

couple of splashes of worcestershire sauce 

In a skillet heat the oil and saute the onions for a few minutes until they start to get soft.  Add the shallots and cook for another minute before adding the freshly minced garlic and continue cooking for another minute or so.  Season with chilli powder and black pepper.  Add the chilli sauce, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, worcestershire sauce and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil, reduce and let it simmer for five minutes.  

Place boneless pork loin in the slow cooker, pour sauce over the pork, cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours.  Shred the pork using two forks, and let it soak up the juices while resting on the warm control.  

Serve with gluten-free buns.