Pork Chops

Sometimes I'm inspired by things found in the garden. Today, I picked up some fresh thyme and oregano to use with pork chops. And the excitement that the first tomato of the season is almost ready to pick inspired a fresh tomato sauce.  

Thinly sliced pork browned in a saucepan with olive oil and butter. Remove and set aside.  Add two large shallots roughly chopped, a tablespoon of minced garlic. Then add 3 cups of chopped tomatoes, 1/2 red bell pepper, a splash or two of red wine vinegar, a dash or three of Portuguese piri piri sauce, thyme, oregano, capers and add the pork chops back to the sauce. Simmer until done.  

Happy Eats!  

Lasagna

I usually make the Ooh-la-la-sagna recipe from The Looneyspoons Collection cookbook but today I just went with what I had on hand since I was missing a few key ingredients.   

Instead of making the centre layer with spinach, ricotta and parmesan cheese and egg I went with what vegetable I had in the fridge. 

3 medium onions roughly chopped

4 zucchinis

2 yellow peppers

large package of mushrooms

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons of sun-dried tomato oil

Toss and roast for 30 minutes in a 350º F oven.  Meanwhile, I worked on my meat sauce.  I removed the skins from fifteen hot Italian sausages, diced and cooked with one white onion. When meat is cooked add 

1 jar of Marinara sauce 

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

Once is reaches a boil, reduce, and simmer for 20 minutes.  

Now comes the fun part. Start with a layer of meat sauce, then a layer of Le Veneziane Gluten-free Corn and Rice Lasagna noodles.  They are oven ready so no need to pre-cook these noodles. Top with more meat sauce, 1/2 of the roasted vegetables (I made enough for 2 trays of lasagna), mozzarella cheese, lasagna noodles, meat sauce and a final layer of cheese.  

Bake in a 350º F oven for 30 minutes. And then enjoy!

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

Portuguese Cod Fish Dish

This is another favourite dish around here--a traditional Portuguese and gluten-free dish! Cod fish, potatoes and other goodness...

Layer par-boiled sliced potatoes, thinly sliced onions, thinly sliced roma tomatoes, cod fish and hot pepper paste oil (homemade pepper paste, garlic and seasonings). Repeat and Bake in a 350˚F oven.  

If you are not lucky enough to be born into a Portuguese family or have Portuguese friends willing to share their own homemade pepper paste, you can find this essential ingredient at your local Portuguese market.  

Happy Eating!  

Light Lunch

Salad Niciose is a favourite light meal around here and it is gluten free.

Boiled eggs

Cherry tomatoes

Boiled potatoes

Green beans

Canned tuna

Sun dried olives

Dressing

Garlic

Shallots

Lemon juice

Olive oil

Oregano

Dijon mustard

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Happy Eating!  

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!  

Pesto Chicken Soup II

I discovered a little Italian market in the neighbourhood that sold some lemon chicken sausage and oh-my-goodness is it ever good. I prefer the lemon chicken sausage over using chicken breasts in this soup. I was planning on adding white beans to the soup but someone beat me to the beans and I didn't have any spinach on hand to add to this version. Still a work in progress....

Lemon Chicken Sausage (casing removed and cut into pieces)

Chicken Stock

Diced Carrots

Diced Celery

Parmesan Cheese rinds

Lemon grass

Pesto

For a light lunch I added a simple cucumber and cherry tomato salad drizzled with some balsamic reduction.  

Happy Eating!  

Borscht

Gotta love autumn for all the food gifts that find its way to the table. These are organic beets that someone found in their organic food delivery box but didn't know that to do with them.  

I thought I would give a try at making borscht.  I used a recipe that I found in Classic Home Cooking by Mary Berry and Marlena Spieler.  

Red cabbage

Beets

Carrots

Red onions

Tomatoes

Red potatoes

Chicken stock

Dried dill

Dried Celery

Red wine vinegar

Organic coconut cane sugar

Sea salt

Black pepper

I know it is a popular soup but I think it needs something.  I added back bacon and that helped. I think it could use more seasoning, cumin perhaps? I do like cumin.  

Portuguese Lasagna

Okay, it is really not called Portuguese Lasagna. Just a little joke there. But it is delicious and that is no joke!  

Start with some sliced potatoes, par-boil them and layer the bottom of a baking sheet.  

You'll also need some cooked salt cod that has been broken into pieces.  

Some thinly sliced onions and shallots.  

Layer and top with diced tomatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil that has been dressed with homemade hot pepper paste, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic. Bake for 45 minutes in a pre-heated over (375 degrees).  

Enjoy!  

Spicy Italian Lasagna

Start with spicy Italian Sausage, remove casings and break into small pieces. In a saucepan, add sausage, white onions and garlic. Cook until no more pink remains.

May I recommend the best gluten-free noodles that I have worked with, Le Veneziane pasta sheets. Worth every penny. And these noodles freeze well too. Found at Lorenzo's Specialty Foods Ltd.

And the star of this lasagna, red basil.

Okay, back to the sauce. Add a large can of diced undrained tomatoes, basil, oregano and freshly cracked black pepper.  Simmer for about twenty minutes.

While the sauce is simmering away into delicious goodness get your cheeses ready, mozzarella and a ricotta, spinach and parmesan cheese.

Start layering with the sauce.

Did I mention that the lasagna noodles do not need to be pre-cooked?

Bake covered in a 375 degree oven.  Remove foil and finish uncovered for the last fifteen minutes.

Summer Fresh Pasta

Gluten-free pasta

1/2 cup sundried olives, pitted

1 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon

2 tablespoons of freshly chopped orange mint

Sea salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

While cooking pasta mix the remaining ingredients. Toss with cooked pasta. Serve hot or at room temperature. Enjoy!   

Shrimp Gumbo

Avocado oil

White onion, chopped

Red pepper, chopped

Celery, chopped

Parsley, chopped

Gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used Cloud 9)

Canned organic diced tomatoes

Homemade sausage

Left-over water from cooked sausage

Chicken stock

Ground cumin

Oregano

Okra, sliced

Shrimps

Sea salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Cayenne 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

The Fixings for Scrambled Eggs

Diced Cherry Tomatoes
Diced Red Peppers
Diced Mushrooms
Chopped Green Onions
Chopped Marinated Artichoke Hearts
2 Eggs
Sprinkle of Italian Seasoning
Dab of Butter
Drop of Milk
Feta Cheese

In a heated pan melt the butter.  Add all of ingredients that have been whisked together and cook until almost done. Add crumbled feta cheese until it begins to melt.  Enjoy.

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.

Simply Delicious Spinach Salad

Baby Spinach

Sun-dried Olives

Cherry Tomatoes

Serve with a simple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Portuguese Comfort Food

I love this dish!  

Sliced Potatoes

Thinly sliced onions

Salt Cod (rinsed and cooked)

Diced Tomato

Olive Oil

Portuguese Hot Pepper Paste

Minced Garlic

Sea Salt

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Cold Pizza for Breakfast?

No, thank you! I prefer a hot breakfast.

I start with pan frying some gluten-free garlic sausage that has been thinly sliced. You can use any gluten-free meats. Costco has gluten-free Italian sandwich meats that would work wonderfully too.

While the sausage is sizzling I remove a gluten-free pizza crust out of the freezer. (I found these pizza crusts at Safeway in the frozen gluten-free section.)

First, I spread some pizza sauce on the crust before I layer on the garlic sausage. Add whatever toppings you like. I added some thinly sliced fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced onions and topped with grated cheese.

Pop it into a preheated 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted and the edges of the crust have started to brown.

Best part, this breakfast pizza was done from start-to-finish in less than thirty minutes. Now who can argue they don't have time for breakfast?

Happy Eating!

Yellow-eyed beans

There were no black-eyed peas to be found in the stores so I went for the next best thing this New Year's Day--Yellow-eyed beans.

I soaked them overnight and then brought them to a boil in a pot of salted water. When they reach the boiling point reduce heat to medium and cook for about an hour or until done.

Now what to do with them, curry? Soup? Baked beans?

I'm sure these beans would work in any of those ideas but I thought to add them to a tray of nachos.

Happy New Year's Day!

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!