Cheers!

Since going gluten free, I had to give up drinking beer... which I didn't really mind too much since it's full of calories and makes you belch and pee a lot.  But it's one thing to CHOOSE not drink beer very often and it's a totally different idea to be UNABLE to ever drink real beer again.  There are a few really great GF substitutes out there, but they are super pricey and hard to find in the stores.  A fairly good alternative has always been hard cider, like Woodchuck. All it's made with is fermented apples and it has always said naturally gluten free right on the packaging.  The only issue with hard cider is that it is very high in sugar and calories, so I try to drink it sparingly.  One idea I've really been brainstorming with is ways to cook with hard cider... so here is my first experiment with fall flavors and hard cider:

Hard Cider Braised Chicken
4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp poultry seasoning
kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
2 T olive oil
1 large Granny Smith apple; peeled, cored and sliced thinly
2 small McIntosh apples; peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1 vidalia onion; peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 lemon; zested and juiced
1 T fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg (approx. 1/8 tsp)
1 bottle Woodchuck Hard Cider (12 oz.)
1 cup chicken broth
1 T butter
1 tsp tapioca starch

Heat up a large cast iron dutch oven or a large high sided skillet with the olive oil.  Season the chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.  Add the chicken and sear the meat for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until it's nice and brown on both sides.  Remove chicken and set aside on a plate.  Add the onion, apples and thyme and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Lower the heat and let the onion and apples sweat out and begin to soften.  Now add the garam masala, cinnamon and lemon zest and stir to combine.  For those of you who haven't used garam masala before, it's an indian spice blend that includes cumin, coriander, cardamom and cinnamon.  It's very fragrant and balances the sweet and savory flavors that I'm going for in this dish.  Next add the hard cider and chicken broth and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Return the chicken to the pan, nestling it into the liquid so that it is just shy of being completely covered.  Bring it up to a boil, put a lid on the pan, lower the heat and simmer for about 45-50 minutes.  At this point the chicken will be cooked all the way through, tender and very moist.  Remove the chicken to a serving plate and crank up the heat under the pan to reduce the sauce.  Take the room temperature butter and tapioca starch and smash them together in a small bowl so that it is combined well and add it to the sauce.  Whisk together and then stir the entire sauce.  Let it bubble away until it thickens to a desired consistency and taste for seasoning (adding salt if necessary).  Turn the heat off and stir in the freshly squeezed lemon juice, then serve the chicken with the sauce and apple mixture poured all over the top.  I served this with a very simple rice pilaf dish that finished it all off nicely.

This dish was a very pleasant surprise... I honestly had no idea how it was going to come out... it was dancing the line between savory and sweet, and it had the potential to be a total fail.  But we really enjoyed this one - there was definitely a sweet aspect to it, but two things made it work - the freshness from the lemon juice added at the end made all of the flavors really pop.... and the small amount of butter added to the sauce at end made it a bit more smooth and finished.  I would definitely try this again.... maybe with pork chops... and maybe the addition of some fresh, sliced fennel would really make this recipe soar even higher!  Enjoy...

Pizza Night!

Let's be honest... who doesn't love meal "theme" nights (Stefan)??  But seriously, who doesn't love pizza night?  The convenience of having a pizza delivered to the house was a luxury that I had to give up when I went gluten free.... until I became brave enough to start making my own pizza.  I started with the mini pizza crust shells that they sell frozen at the store.  I would dress them up with my favorite toppings and it would satisfy the craving temporarily.  But I didn't find true gluten free pizza bliss until I found Chebe - this is hands down, the best, easiest and tastiest gluten free pizza crust mix out there.  It mixes up quickly... rolls out pretty well... bakes up nice and thin.... and it has a nice crispy/chewy texture that lets you fold your slice just like regular pizza.  Love it!  I was always one who enjoyed thin crust pizza, so this is right up my alley.

Sausage Pizza

• Prepared Chebe pizza crust, rolled out to fit a round pizza baking sheet
• Mixed Sweet & Hot Italian Sausage, removed from the casing, browned in a pan & crumbled (I used Premio brand)
• Pizza Sauce (we had leftover vodka sauce in the freezer, so we used that)
• Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
• Dried Italian Seasoning
• Kosher salt & fresh black pepper to taste

This recipe is a bit different from the others, since I've omitted the amounts of each item.  Pizza is a pretty forgiving food to prepare (even when it's bad, it's still pretty good).  I like to use minimal sauce and lots of toppings and cheese - but maybe you like the reverse.  So play around with it and enjoy it - that's the beauty of making pizza for yourself, at home!  The Chebe crust needs to be prepared as directed on the package.  When I roll mine out into a circle, I like to bunch and crimp up the edges a bit so that the edge acts as a barrier to keep all the toppings inside.  The crust needs to bake for about 10 minutes before adding the toppings, then another 15 minutes once the toppings are added.  I like when the edges start to brown a bit.  Yup.... now I'm hungry for pizza!

I love Pizza Night!!!!  A couple of slices and a glass of red wine.... talk about a great Friday night!

Go get Chebe mix and treat yourself to pizza again.  Trust me.... DO IT!  :)  You'll be glad you did.

The Comforts of Fall....

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post.... but have no fear, this DOESN'T mean I haven't been cooking!  Now that the fall is upon us, it's time to switch gears a bit - less grilling and more slow cooking on the stove top and in the oven.  What says comfort more than an indulgent meatloaf smothered in gravy?  Over the summer, I made little mini turkey meatloafs that were healthy and cooked up in 15 minutes in a mini muffin loaf pan... so, now that October had finally rolled around, I knew it was time to make a true, full size, stick-to-your-ribs meatloaf.

Italian Style Meatloaf
2 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 small sweet onion, diced
3 small carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
4 cloves of garlic, grated
1 T sun dried tomato paste (I used Amore brand)
1 T Italian herb paste (again, Amore brand)
1 T Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrin's)
1/3 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
3/4 cup GF bread crumbs (see Note **)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 T Heinz ketchup
1 1/4 lbs lean ground beef (93% lean)
1 1/4 lbs ground pork
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

** Note:  about the GF bread crumbs - when I buy frozen gluten free bread, I pull out the ends of the bread loaves and store them in a plastic freezer bag - when I need bread crumbs, I toast these slices well and zip them in the food processor.

For the meatloaf - preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Get out a large mixing bowl and put the ground beef and pork into the bowl, breaking it/mixing it up lightly.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Then, drop your dried rosemary, fennel seed and red pepper flakes into a spice grinder to get a coarsely ground mixture - sprinkle this mixture over the meat.  Then to prepare the vegetables to add to the meatloaf, heat up a medium saute pan with the olive oil.  Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and saute over medium heat until the veggies begin to soften - about 5-7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Let the veggie mixture cool slightly before adding it to the meat in the mixing bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients - tomato and herb pastes, Worcestershire sauce, grated cheese, bread crumbs and eggs.  Mix up the meatloaf using your hands until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed, but being careful not to overwork the meat.  Gather the meat mixture together and form a long loaf in a lightly greased pyrex baking dish.  Add the ketchup to the top of the meatloaf and spread it all over so that the meatloaf gets nicely caramelized on top.  Bake in the oven for about an hour, until the juices run clear.

Once the meatloaf comes out of the oven to rest for 10 minutes, you can begin on the gravy:

1 T butter
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 T gluten free flour (I used the Namaste all purpose flour)
1/4 cup marsala wine
1 cup beef broth
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt & pepper to taste

Melt the butter into the olive oil and add the shallot - cooking for a couple of minutes until softened and fragrant.  Season with salt & pepper.  Sprinkle with gluten free flour and mix well until the flour begins to bubble and thicken.  Add the marsala wine and beef broth and whisk vigorously to mix and deglaze the bottom of the pan.  Once the mixture begins to thicken, whisk in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce and do some final taste testing for seasoning.  Add salt & pepper if needed.

I served this meatloaf with a very simple salad of mixed greens.  It was delicious - the quick gravy was very tasty for being prepared in only a few minutes and I loved the way all of the ingredients in the meatloaf added an important step in making the final product.  Every ingredient was intentional and critical in making this an "Italian Style" meatloaf.  Try this out to warm yourself and your family up on a cool fall evening.