Archives for January 2009

On-the-Spot Succulent Success

January 30, 2009 · Filed Under Slightly Indulgent, Tempt My Tummy, Uncategorized, dairy free, entree, gluten free, recipe ·14 Comments

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Amy’s Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.

Some of us routinely plan out our weekly meals. Some of us don’t, but most of the time we have dinners in mind, calling upon old favorites like Fabulous Pork Butt, taking the opportunity to make a friend’s new recipe like Kathi’s Great Salad, or using the ingredients in the refrigerator or freezer to make a pot of “Everything” soup. However, sometimes none of that works out, as was the case last night. Here’s what transpired.

I come home from work. I change my clothes, feed the cats, put wood in the stove, and sit down on the sofa. I look through my snail mail and then power up the laptop to check email and what’s new at gfe. In the back of my mind, I am thinking what am I going to serve for dinner? There’s that pork tenderloin I purchased half price recently that I just thawed in the refrigerator, but do I really feel like cooking that? I’m feeling lazy. There’s baked potato soup from last night and some ham quiche from the night before. Will hubby go for either of those? I wonder. I had the potato soup for lunch. It’s very good, but I really don’t think I want it again for dinner. The quiche is good, but that’s not what I really want either.

So it looks like dinner needs to be the pork loin. I peruse all my pork loin recipes on my laptop, in my recipe box, and a stack of recipes printed out from the computer. Will any of them work? Do any of them sound good? I read through them … marinate 4 hours—definitely not tonight; marinate 2 hours-better, but nope, it’s already six o’clock; a crock pot recipe-out; a peppery pork loin recipe that I’ve made once before—no, not in the mood for that one. Google to the rescue (I hope) … my search immediately takes me to About.com’s Southern Food section and the pork tenderloin recipes. I scan the list. Hmmm, Pork Tenderloin with Maple Glaze—that sounds really good! Will it require ingredients that I have on hand or can adapt? Will it be gfe (naturally gluten free) or easy to convert to gfe? I click on the link hopefully. I scan the ingredients: pork—check! seasoning blend of herbs-check! salt–check! pepper-check! butter—check! olive oil—check! maple syrup-check! apple cider vinegar-check! and, finally, Dijon mustard—check! Score: 100% Fantastic—gfe, it is! Brown rice and cranberry chutney are suggested as side dishes. Hooray! There’s leftover brown rice in the fridge. No cranberry chutney (or ingredients to make it), but some leftover peas sound better to me this evening anyway.

I follow the recipe, cooking the pork loin in my largest skillet, removing and returning the loin after making an easy reduction sauce (don’t be intimidated by that term if you rarely cook) using the pork loin “juice” and scrapings, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard. As the pork loin cooks, the smell is fantastic … a sort of sweet smokiness that fills the house. I make a few adjustments from the original recipe as I cook.

Pork Tenderloin with Maple Glaze
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

2 pork tenderloins (total of 2 to 3 pounds)

1 clove garlic, halved

1 tsp herb seasoning blend (or Cajun seasoning blend–I used a seasoned salt that is full of herbs and flavor)

pepper, to taste

salt, if seasoning blend is salt free

2 tsp butter

2 tsp olive oil

6 tbsp pure maple syrup

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

salt and pepper, optional

Trim pork of any fat and membrane.

Rub pork tenderloins with garlic halves, then rub seasoning blend all over, and pepper. If seasoning is salt free, sprinkle with little sea salt.

In a small bowl, combine 6 tbsp maple syrup, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, and the Dijon or brown mustard. Stir to blend thoroughly. Set aside.

Melt butter with oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot and foamy. Add pork tenderloins and cook, turning, until brown on all surfaces, about 12 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until temperature of pork in the center of loin shows 150 degrees. Turn occasionally as needed. This phase of cooking takes a good 30 minutes longer in my experience.

Transfer pork to platter; cover to keep warm.

Add 2 tbsp vinegar to skillet and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits (if you can resist eating them all!). Reduce heat to medium-low.

Return pork to skillet; add maple syrup mixture that you set aside and turn pork in glaze to coat well. About 5 minutes works best for coating and further reduction.

Remove from heat. Transfer pork to cutting board. Cut pork into ½-inch slices. Stir 1 tbsp maple syrup into the glaze. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.

Arrange sliced pork on plates or platter. Spoon glaze over pork and serve. Original recipe notes that this pork is wonderful with rice (it was!) and Cranberry Chutney (another naturally gf recipe—and, even though I wasn’t in the mood for it last night, it does look very tasty!)

Note again that I didn’t have to go to a gluten-free cookbook to find this recipe. It’s just a regular recipe that is naturally gluten free. This approach is the gfe one. The ingredients are “real” and simple, and the results, superb.

My husband shared his assessment: “I don’t think I’ve ever had pork tenderloin so tender. There is no English to describe it. You couldn’t go to a restaurant and get tenderloin that good.” LOL on the “no English” part (I think the man is buttering me up for something!), but; otherwise, I have to agree! Often to get pork this tender, it has to be falling apart. That doesn’t affect the taste usually, but it certainly affects the presentation. Fortunately, with this recipe, that is not the case (as you can see from the picture). This is a wonderful and elegant recipe to make when hosting friends or sharing a home-cooked meal with others.

I must admit I am posting this recipe with a bit of trepidation, but bemused trepidation. I will never forget how much I laughed when Shauna, the Gluten-Free Girl, shared disparaging comments from a reader on her blog. I am wondering if I will quickly get labeled the same way … after all I have posted two pork recipes in a month’s time! But I promise, I have many more recipes to share and they are not all about succulent swine. There’s a “yard bird” recipe coming soon, plus one of those “death by chocolate” recipes we desperately need from time to time, and of course, the promised “everything” soup.

Finally, how about your approach to meal planning … do you ever go through this same process trying to figure out what to cook for dinner? Do you look for that recipe that both appeals and contains the ingredients you have on hand? Do you semi-plan your meals around what’s on sale and/or what strikes your fancy that week? How much do the seasons/weather play a role in what you eat? It seems we definitely eat more pork, and meat in general, in the winter. (By the way, Ali at Gluten-Free Whole Foods just did an excellent post where she talked about the benefits of eating seasonally and one’s “ideal meal.”) Please share your thoughts.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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Tags: maple, meal planning, pork, tender

Nut Cereal

January 27, 2009 · Filed Under breakfast, easy, gluten free, recipe ·20 Comments

No, this post is not an endorsement of a processed gluten-free cereal. I do not plan to have such reviews at GFE. As I’ve said before, there are very few GF specialty items that I personally purchase. I like to keep my diet and my buying simple … for a variety of reasons (some of which I’ve already shared and more that I will be sure to talk about at a later date).

When I got up this morning, it was sleeting. Then it started snowing. I knew I would take my time heading into work … waiting to see if the weather would get better or worse, and perhaps ultimately deciding not to go in at all. I had just gotten a large bag of pecans on my latest visit to the grocery store. (Pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews, and sunflower seeds are staples in our house.) A banana that had turned brown overnight sat on the counter looking sad. (I think it was “pleading” not to be thrown in with the two dozen other “baking bananas” still held in semi-solitary, frozen confinement. If you missed that story, read here.) Little voices inside my head were speaking to me and my stomach was making those hungry sounds, not yet a full-out growl, but close. The fact that I had just done an exercise video (for the first time in months) also had me feeling a bit ravenous. Some type of healthy breakfast was needed. (I didn’t want to cancel out the effects of the cardio, you know?) The answer was obvious and simple … I’d make my own version of nut cereal—a GFE solution!

All you need for nut cereal is a small amount of nuts and some milk (dairy or non-dairy) to pour over them. That’s right, there is no omission—flakes, oats, and any other grains are just not needed I do like to add some fruit and/or a small amount of sweetener, but they are not necessary. Today I started with pecan halves, added the banana that I had sliced, and topped it all with just a little bit of brown sugar. Yes, it looks like I added a lot of brown sugar (LOL), but that’s just because I had to darken the photo to make it presentable. It’s not one of my best photos. I could have kept taking photos trying to get a better shot, but I really wanted to eat the cereal!! (By the way, the bowl looks very large, too, in the shot, but it’s a small bowl. LOL)

Nut Cereal

small amount of chopped or halved nuts of your choice

sliced or chopped fruit (optional)

sweetener (optional; e.g., agave syrup, brown sugar, honey)

milk (dairy or non-dairy)

Place nuts in bowl. Top with fruit and sweetener. Pour milk over all. Enjoy.

Could that be any simpler? If you’ve always been a fan of boxed nut cereals (GF or not), give this a try. I promise you that you really won’t miss the grains. It’s very satisfying. And, this method for breakfast adapts so well when staying at a friend’s house, camping, or the like. What do you think? Will you try this version of nut cereal? Do you do anything equally simple for breakfast that you’d like to share? Sometimes we dismiss simple ideas as not worthy of sharing, but usually those are the best ones to tell others about!

FYI—By the time I finished eating my breakfast, weather conditions had worsened and the road that I use to travel to work was actually closed. Can you say SNOW DAY!!! Life is good. It’s still snowing … I love snow.

Full disclosure: This idea is brilliant (IMHO), but it is not my own. It was posted in a summary of breakfast ideas on the celiac listserv quite some time ago, so unfortunately, I can’t give proper credit to the originator.

Shirley

“Nut” just GF, but GFE

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Tags: bananas, breakfast, brown sugar, dairy free, easy, honey, nuts, pecans, recipe

A Little Crunch of Cabbage

January 25, 2009 · Filed Under easy, entree, gluten free, recipe, salad ·37 Comments

UPDATE: This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Mondays over at Amy’s blog, Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free. Many, many thanks to Amy for featuring me and the gfe concept there! If you haven’t checked out your her blog yet, you should. It’s every bit as delightful as she is! This post is also linked to my fantastic BlogHer Food ‘09 travel buddy Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix—Cranberries at her blog, The W.H.O.L.E. Gang. Check their blogs and carnivals out!

As a child, I was really not exposed to a lot of different foods. Looking back, my mother largely prepared the foods my father liked and, overall, that was a somewhat limited menu. If my sister or I tried something and didn’t like it, well, we never had to eat it again … Mom happily fixed us a quick alternative. That seemed like a wonderful thing as a child, but as I grew up I found out there were lots of foods that I’d never eaten at all before and many others that I’d never really given a chance.

When I met my future husband while I was still in college, he introduced me to steamed artichokes. Heaven … pure heaven! (Thank goodness for that one high school sweetheart originally from San Jose who introduced him to artichokes!) When I was pregnant with my son, I wanted to eat healthier, so I tried broccoli again. It soon became my new favorite vegetable. Just last year, I finally learned to enjoy asparagus. (Grilled asparagus with a little olive oil and seasonings is incredibly good.) I suppose it’s somewhat surprising that at my age I am still learning to appreciate new foods, but it also makes sense. When one goes gluten free and takes the easy approach (gfe), you consider all the foods that are naturally gluten free. Fruits and vegetables top that list. As they are so inherently healthy, it just seems like a “win-win” to add more to your menus.

At one of our girlfriend dinners a few months ago, my dear friend, Kathi, volunteered to bring a salad that she promised was great and easy to make. (Someone had made it at a potluck she’d attended and she fell in love with it. Good recipes spread as quickly as bad gossip … or “good” gossip, depending up on which camp you’re in on that topic! LOL) She showed up with a grocery bag that contained all the ingredients she’d picked up on the way: romaine, spinach, cole slaw mix, almonds, dried cranberries, and Briannas poppy seed dressing. She mixed it up in a salad bowl and in 5 minutes, it was ready. Wow—such a great contribution to a dinner or potluck without hours of preparation needed. It was beautiful and it did taste great—a colorful combination of so many of my favorite ingredients producing a variety of flavors and a nice mix of chewiness and crunchiness.

Amazingly, the ingredient that I found myself enjoying the most in the salad was from the cole slaw mix: the shredded cabbage. The pungent flavor and just the little added crunch factor were surprisingly irresistible. I had always thought I hated cabbage. I had even suppressed a frown when Kathi had brought out the bag of cole slaw mix when she first made the recipe for us. But after eating the salad and enjoying it so much, I found myself adding the remaining cole slaw mix (the recipe only calls for a partial bag) to other salad greens for a quick salad. Sometimes, I topped the cole slaw mix with tuna salad or some sliced chicken. Every raw cabbage-based concoction I came up with was good, quite good.

The three-color cole slaw mix has now become a standard on my grocery list and a staple in my diet. (Of course, you can just purchase cabbage and do your own shredding, too.) Now, I often make my own single serving version of Kathi’s Great Salad, usually only adding a few dried cranberries, substituting different nuts for the almonds depending upon what I have on hand, adding different, simple dressings like a little extra virgin olive oil (or Gluten Free Kay’s delightful vinaigrette), and topping my salad with a little sliced chicken or salmon from time to time.

This salad recipe is ideal for sharing with folks who are not normally salad fans. They will try it and then surprise themselves by eagerly asking for more. For example, last night I took it to a family potluck (where the salads eaten are typically potato salad and pasta salad LOL), and it won rave reviews. I brought home just enough to enjoy for lunch today. I often prepare it for our celiac/gluten intolerance support group meetings. Group members now call it “our salad.” It really is a great salad, no matter exactly how you make it or what you call it. I am so grateful to Kathi for bringing it to our girlfriend dinner and re-introducing me to the crunch of cabbage!

Great Salad

(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

one bag of Romaine (I use organic, so I use one box, I’ve also used spring mix, butter lettuce, and other greens when Romaine was not available)

one bag of spinach (again, I use organic, so I use one box; see note above on using other greens if spinach is not available)

one-half bag of three-color cole slaw mix (shredded green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots)

one small package of slivered almonds (sliced almonds also work)

one small package of Craisins (original flavor is gf per my research) or equivalent amount of dried cranberries

one bottle of Briannas poppy seed dressing or equivalent amount of homemade poppy seed dressing

Mix all together except Craisins/cranberries. Sprinkle those over the salad once mixed (otherwise, they tend to sink to the bottom) and serve. This salad is best eaten immediately, but it will keep fairly well for up to 48 hours (if there is any left!).

Shirley’s Notes: Briannas poppy seed dressing is not certified gluten free, but I find no ingredients of concern on the label and I’ve also seen it on some gf lists. Regarding the option of homemade poppy seed dressing, I just found a simple poppy seed dressing recipe online and plan to adapt it to my own tastes using olive oil and perhaps some honey as part of the sweetener. (The main ingredient of Briannas poppy seed dressing is canola oil and I’d rather not use that.) Easy salad recipes are a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen. Usually when they participate in making something, they feel that “pride of ownership” and will excitedly dig in, as well as promote the merits of their dish to everyone else! Even more than one child can help make a salad like this one … one adds the spinach, one adds the romaine, and so on.

Update: If you’re looking for more wonderful ideas on using greens, specifically spinach, head on over to Diane’s The W.H.O.L.E. Gang blog. This week’s Friday Foodie Fix features spinach recipes and will have a roundup of great recipes. Diane hosts this informative and helpful carnival every Friday.

Enjoy!

Shirley
Not just GF, but GFE!