I resisted the siren song of the ice cream at the coop, and decided against the walk to buy a nice rosé, but I still wanted something cool.  And simple.  The result, a salad with 5 ingredients, two of which are local.  Fresh spring greens from Westhaven farm, crumbly goat feta from Lively Run, sliced strawberries, walnuts and balsamic vinegar.  Refreshing and indulgent.

A little earlier I began in on my new favorite beer, a recent discovery at Wegmans, Green’s Dubbel Dark Ale.  As a gluten-free human who had a previous love affair with dark beer, this has been a small bit of redemption.  Give it a try.

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Now the leaves are turning green, the magnolia blossoms are slippery on the sidewalk, the farmer’s market has re-opened, and I’m still trying to find a storage solution for the spices.  Things are pretty good.

This morning was my first baking foray in the new place with a new-to-me oven that has a timer and beeps when it is done pre-heating.  Fancy!  Then I got to have grilled cheese sandwiches for brunch.

• Pots de creme with whipped cream
• Crepes (cherry compote, Nutella, lemon curd)
• Chocolate souffle cupcakes with vanilla whipped cream
• Soft goat cheese with pecan crackers
• Nuts
• Lots of wine

Don’t you wish you were there?

Everything was gluten-free.  Tammy made the pots de creme and they were outrageously rich! I spent the evening working on my ramekin in between glasses sips of wine.  Jenny’s crepes were made with rice flour and I found them to be shockingly pliable. I managed to abscond with a few leftovers.

The chocolate souffle cupcakes were from SmittenKitchen, with a simple whipped cream topping that had the lightest hint of vanilla and sugar.  They were simple to make, with ingredients I already had.  My batch resulted in 14 cupcakes instead of the 9 stated in the recipe.

We were up way past our bedtimes, and my magnetic pull to the coffee pot this morning in an attempt to recover was unstoppable.

So, for Cassie, here’s an attempt at a recipe for my really, really good beef stew.  Now, in a crockpot. My crockpot is 5.5Q.  Adjust down on some bulky ingredients like potatoes and carrots if your crockpot is smaller.

Beef Stew
Yes, its a crockpot recipe, but it is greatly enhanced by starting off at the stove. You can skip all the stove-based steps if you like, just add those ingredients directly to the crockpot.

Dredge 1 lb stew beef with salt, pepper, thyme, sage, celery salt and flour.
Brown meat in heavy pan with olive oil

Sweat/caramelize 2 mediumish diced onions and 4 cloves of diced garlic  in the pan over low heat while prepping all following ingredients.  Deglaze with red wine as needed.

Prepare:

• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 3 potatoes, cubed (add an extra if they are particularly small).  I rarely peel them.
• 2-3 large carrots, sliced or half moons.  I rarely peel them.

Turn crockpot on low.

• Place celery, potatoes and carrots in crockpot
• Add 1/4 – 1/2 cup tomato sauce OR some tomato paste
• Add onions and garlic from stove.
• Add browned beef.
• Add cooking liquid.  Perhaps 2 cans of beef broth and some red wine.  My goal is to cover all the other ingredients, and have the crockpot at 75-85% full.
• Pepper, sage, thyme to taste.  Add a bay leaf or two if you like.

Put the lid on and set the crockpot for 8-12 hours on low.  I find that you can usually cut the low times in half to cook on high.
Near the end of cooking, add 1/2 bag frozen peas and cook until they are defrosted and warm.

Add more spices if needed.  Crockpot cooking can really rob them of their flavor and you will need more than you usually use.
Thicken with slurry from 3T tapioca flour (or potato starch flour, or regular flour)

*Choose your broth/stock/bouillion/wine with a bit of thought.  It will really impact your final flavors.

I spent Thanksgiving dinner with some old friends, and two of us are gluten-free. Our hostess went to above and beyond to orchestrate a meal where we could eat everything on the table. The turducken was a masterpiece that had three layers of fillings: potatoes, wild rice, and gluten free cornbread stuffing. Our hostess made the cornbread by hand, and she and her dad assembled the birds at 4:00 am.

She also took a crack at two gluten free pies – making the crusts from scratch. Sadly, I didn’t get to try any tonight because I had already hit carbohydrate coma. In part because I wanted to try my own dessert creation: pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting. The original recipe came from Smitten Kitchen, and I adapted it to be gluten free and a little less sugary. Specifically:

• Used gluten free flour (using Analise Roberts’ rice flour blend recipe
• Added 3/4 t xanthan gum
• Eliminated 1/3 c granulated sugar
• Reduced pumpkin to 1 c
• For the frosting I added some vanilla and a little bit more maple syrup
• The tops were dusted with cinnamon

I don’t have an 18 cup cupcake pan so I improvised.  12 full size cupcakes plus 17 minis (which were baked for a little less time).  I enjoy my sweets in small portions, so the minis are always a great option for me.  I made the cupcakes themselves last night and frosted them this afternoon.

The cupcakes were extremely moist and cakey, with well-balanced flavors.  The frosting was almost like having cheesecake on top.  They will most certainly be in my holiday recipe arsenal going forward, and are certainly on that list of foods that gluten eaters will never suspect as being anything other than “normal.”

Chili: 11/22/2009

This chili is especially remarkable for me because it might be the first time I’ve ever made chili with meat in it.  I was looking for something particularly hearty and flavorful and used some grass fed ground beef from RK Farms. The result was just what I was looking for.  The heat was perfect, developing into something deep and consistent, without being overwhelming.

• 1 lb ground beef, sauteed
• 1-2 onions, chopped, sauteed
• 3 T minced garlic, sauteed
• 1 28 oz can of Muir Glen organic fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can organic pinto beans
• 2 T ground cumin
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 t salt

Cook in a large pot,over medium low heat for 30-45 minutes, stirring periodically

Top with grated sharp cheddar cheese

I made some simple gluten-free drop biscuits to go with.

I’m continuing my Crockpot experiments on the weekends as I have time.  Today, I needed some comfort food.  Something warm, creamy, simple and delicious.  Macaroni and cheese.

I’m using Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking as a reference for this experiment.  The book is based on Stephanie O’Dea’s website and I looked there for additional guidance.  Apparently, her recipe garnered mixed reviews, but it seemed like the right place to start.  Here’s what I did:

Spray Crockpot with cooking spray

In a bowl, combine:

• 1 egg
• 5 c milk
• 2 t potato starch flour (cornstarch or other flour would work too)
• 1/2 t fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 2 t dried mustard
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 4 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 12 oz package Bionaturae gluten-free elbows

Pour mixture into Crockpot.  Cover, cook on high.

There were a few major themes in the comments on Stephanie’s website:

1. Curdling and separation
2. Pasta overcooking
3. Sauce too thin
4. Needing to stir regularly

I added the potato starch flour as a fisrt attempt to mitigate some of those concerns.  I started the Crockpot on high for the first 30 minutes, then stirred. Then I turned it down because I was nervous.  Stirred in another 20 minutes, when I stopped being wimpy and turned it back up to high.  Stirred at 15 more minutes. Wasn’t sure if it was too thin, so I made a quick slurry of water and 2t potato starch flour, stirred it in, and turned the heat down to warm.  I dug in a few minutes later.  I think.  It might have been closer to 1 1/2 hours total.

It was creamy and rich.  So substantive I couldn’t finish my bowl.