Out and About

Wassail and Make It Fast, Cook It Slow Cookbook

January 21, 2010 · Filed Under Out and About, Progressive Dinner, beverage, blogherfood09, crockpot, dairy free, easy, giveaway, gluten free, holiday, recipe, slow cooker, soup ·339 Comments

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for entering.

Full disclosure: I was provided a complimentary copy of Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by the publisher. However, I was not paid to write this post/review.

Wassail. It’s not just for holidays any more. Seriously. Deliciously. Sometimes I think we do a huge disservice when we label dishes as holiday or seasonal favorites and only serve them during a very brief time window. Wassail, hot spiced punch, is one of those favorites. Traditionally served in the fall or over the holidays, it just seems to get forgotten once those have passed. But, it shouldn’t be. Last fall, one of my favorite bloggers and now my dear friend, Stephanie O’Dea, of A Year of Slow Cooking (and Totally Together Journal) posted a wassail recipe. A quick peek at the ingredients and I knew I had to make it. I doubled the recipe and served it to my support group for our next meeting. After one sip, I fell in love with this wassail. Our members loved it, too. I ladled what was left back into a glass jar with the help of a funnel and stored it in the refrigerator. Then I just reheated the wassail a mug at a time; it worked well. I even shared some with Mom and Dad when they stopped by for a visit; they thought it was great as well.

The focus of this month’s Gluten-Free Progressive Dinner Party (GFDP) is Light Winter Warmers. Everyone else participating quickly signed up for some fabulous soup recipes. I’m rarely short of soup ideas, but I wanted to be different. (Yes, I’m like that sometimes.) So I thought I’d share a warm beverage instead and Stephanie’s Wassail came to mind. Would wassail qualify as a light winter warmer I wondered? A quick check online showed that wassail actually means “be healthy.” Wassail it was then. This wassail is gluten free, dairy free, and even refined sugar free, but no worries, this wassail has no unusual ingredients and it tastes sensational. I made it again last night for our support group meeting. The folks who have had enjoyed it previously were very pleased to see my large oval crockpot full of golden liquid with sliced Cara Cara oranges and cinnamon sticks floating on top. Others were singing its praises after a few sips. They were juggling both mugs of wassail and mugs of chicken tortilla soup, but they didn’t mind. (There was also great salad, parmesan crisps from Kitchen Table Bakers, cornbread, raw butternut squash soup, fresh cooked greens, Udi’s whole grain bread, and desserts like banana bread, brownies, flourless chocolate orange cake, carrot cake, cupcakes, and even more that I can’t recall. Our meetings are always a feast!) I’ve only made this wassail recipe without the brandy, but I’m sure adding brandy as per Stephanie directions would be lovely, too.

Now here’s the really great news … not only do you get Stephanie’s wassail recipe, but she’s also donated a signed copy of her New York Times bestseller, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Slow Cooking, for a giveaway. Now, I love Stephanie’s book because it’s got gfe written all over it. Okay, not literally, but every single recipe is either naturally gluten free or gluten free by virtue of ensuring ingredients are gluten free. For example, in the classic comfort food dish, macaroni and cheese, one would just use a gluten-free pasta, such as the brown rice fusilli that Stephanie notes. For chicken pot pie (yes, in your slow cooker!), you’ll see gluten-free baking mix cited for biscuit mix. Want to make risotto in your slow cooker? There’s a recipe for that. Hey, there’s even a recipe for breakfast risotto with fruit and cinnamon and another for corn risotto (her kids called it “corn oatmeal”). How about granola? There’s a recipe. Unsatisfied with yogurt choices at your grocery store? Stephanie shows you how to make your own using the slow cooker. How about perfect gluten-free bread? Yep. Grab your favorite gluten-free bread mix or your own recipe and follow her instructions for some fresh, homemade bread. You might also remember Stephanie’s cornbread stuffing from our November Gluten-Free Progressive Dinner Party. I’ve made many of Stephanie’s recipes before and loved them all, but I’m anxious to try more. (You can read about some of the dishes I tried in my BlogHer Food Part I post.) Today I’m making Stephanie’s Salsa Chicken, and her Butternut Squash Soup (which is naturally gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free) is also in my plans. I could go on and on. Bottom line: You’ll want this book!

The deadline for the giveaway is Wednesday, January 27, 9:00 pm, Eastern. Here are the many ways you can enter:

1. Leave a comment below.
2. Subscribe to my feed via email or RSS and leave a comment saying that you did.
3. Tweet about the giveaway sharing the link and leave a comment saying that you did.
4. Post a message on your Facebook page about the giveaway and leave a comment saying that you did.
5. Post about the giveaway on your blog and leave a comment saying that you did with your link.
6. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment saying that you did.
7. Become a fan of my new gfe-gluten free easily page on Facebook and leave a comment saying that you did. (I admit that seems a bit strange. Think blog friend, not fan. Someone who has fans also has paparazzi for goodness’ sake.)

All entries will be tracked by the individual comments, so you must enter a separate comment to get an additional entry. One comment showing you did all these things will only be counted as one entry, so please remember to note each by separate entries.

And, here’s the wonderful recipe:

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

2 quarts apple cider
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup honey
3 sticks cinnamon
2 whole cloves
1 whole orange, cut in rings
brandy, optional

Use a 4 – 6 quart slow cooker/crockpot. This recipe makes 9 cups of juice.

Put all of the ingredients into the crockpot (not the brandy). Wash your orange well, and cut off each end. Slice the remaining orange into rings, and float the pieces on the top of the juice.

Cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for about 4. You want the juice completely hot, and the flavor of the cloves and the cinnamon to have permeated.

Ladle into mugs. If you are going to add the brandy, put a shot into each mug, then top with the hot cider.

If serving to guests, provide a ladle, and keep the crockpot lid off, and the pot turned to low. If on warm with the lid off, it won’t stay quite hot enough.

Shared with permission from Stephanie O’Dea, A Year of Slow Cooking and Make It Fast, Cook It Slow

Shirley’s Notes: (Stephanie has used apple juice, which is shown in the photo, when apple cider was unavailable. Our bees’ honey tastes just right if this recipe, but if you don’t eat honey, feel free to experiment with another sweetener. Last, I find I have to keep my own slow cooker on “High” to keep the wassail hot enough. I do remove the top from time to time for periods of serving, but the “High” serving works best for me.)

Grab a mug and enjoy your wassail while checking out the other light winter warmers for the GFDP. All the entries have been sooo appealing. Earlier in the week, we enjoyed:

~Karen’s Creamy Potato and Leek Soup

~Alison’s Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Croutons

~Diane’s Winter Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup with Prosciutto Topping, plus her Mexican Seafood Soup, and

~Seamaiden’s Vegan Un-Chicken Roasted Vegetable Soup.

All amazing, huh?

Now let’s head over to Amy’s and Stephanie’s today. Think chili! Amy’s serving Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash and Sweet Chard. Stephanie’s slow cooked some Chicken Enchilada Chili. Tomorrow, we’re all meeting at Ali’s for Moroccan Chickpea and Potato Soup. What a party!

Enjoy and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Post a comment · 339 Comments
Tags: beverage, crockpot, dairy free, easy, GFE, giveaway, gluten free, healthy, honey, recipe, slow cooker, soup

Holiday Prelude to Key West

December 27, 2009 · Filed Under gluten free, holiday, slow cooker ·21 Comments

This past Tuesday I was privileged to attend a friend’s Christmas open house. Oh, it wasn’t any typical open house. This one was held in her wonderful greenhouse—a haven for her and her husband’s orchid collection, as well, as many other fabulous horticultural examples. It seemed like a great escape from the 20 inches of snow on the ground and, also, somewhat of a prelude to our Key West vacation. Warm. Lush. Green. Tropical. Colorful. Festive and whimsical holiday decorations (like a Christmas tree decorated with butterflies and orchids). Warm, friendly faces. It was a perfect prelude, in fact. Oh, and the food. There was a terrific tomato-based cabbage and beef soup that my friend had cooked in her slow cooker. I could safely enjoy this soup and it was just right for the cold winter day. There was also a double-chocolate peppermint bark that was both delicious and gluten free. (Lucky for you, my friend, Cathy of Noble Pig, has a recipe for Double-Chocolate Peppermint Bark at her blog. Ensure ingredients that you use are gluten free and you’re good to go!) My contribution to the open house was Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Clementine Cake. It came out very well. I’ll be back with that recipe (and photos) soon, and hopefully, lots of photos from here in Key West. Keep your fingers crossed … a bottle of water came open in my tote bag and doused its entire contents—that included my camera (now drying … I’m hoping for a full recovery).

Hope you enjoy the photos! More importantly, I sincerely hope everyone is enjoying lovely holidays with family and friends. Thanks so much for all the warm holiday wishes you’ve sent my way, too—they are working!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Post a comment · 21 Comments
Tags: chocolate, gluten free

Quick and Easy Pan-Baked Potatoes

December 22, 2009 · Filed Under Friday Foodie Fix, Slightly Indulgent, Tempt My Tummy, What can I eat ..., breakfast, dessert, easy, flourless, gluten free, holiday, microwave, potato, recipe, side dish, vegan, vegetarian ·26 Comments

This post is linked to these terrific, weekly blog carnivals: Amy’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays , Linda’s What can I eat that’s gluten free?, Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix—Potatoes, and Lana and Lisa’s Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays.

My Favorite Santa … art by Son at age 10

If you celebrate Christmas, the big days are almost here. I say days, because for most families, it’s more than just the actual day when we’re celebrating and sharing meals with family and friends. Those days are Christmas Eve and Christmas day in our family.

So, you have selected your main dish for your dinner or special meal—perhaps the slow-cooked POM’d Pork from the Holiday Food Fest—and now you want a lovely side dish to accompany it. Why not make your side dish both attractive and delicious, but as fuss free as a slow cooker meal? Here’s a simple side dish that fits the bill. This recipe comes straight out of the manual/cookbook that came with my Kenmore (Sears) microwave, which proves once again that you can still rely on your old “mainstream” cookbooks to cook gluten free. Recipes that are gluten free naturally or easily made gluten free—gfe—abound. One just has to recognize them as gluten-free, even though they don’t have a gluten-free label. That’s another advantage of focusing primarily on real foods and understanding ingredients.

The original pan-baked potatoes recipe contains dairy, but I’ve made it dairy free when needed just by using almond flour in place of the Parmesan cheese and olive oil in place of the butter. That modification works very nicely. The almond flour and olive oil combination don’t brown quite as well as the Parmesan/butter combo, but a quick minute under the oven broiler can solve that problem if you’re going for that visual appeal. Seasoned gluten-free bread crumbs or a similar topping, like gluten-free cornflake crumbs, will also work in lieu of cheese.

This recipe is one I often make to accompany a “gift meal,” too. The potatoes go great with a meat/fish entrée or can be an easy vegetarian/vegan meal when paired with a salad. This recipe is always very well received. Folks have even referred to these potatoes as twice-baked potatoes before. While I don’t think they taste like twice-baked potatoes, they are a much easier, healthier alternative and do taste delicious. Sometimes I just make these potatoes for us as part of a weeknight meal because they are so quick, easy, and tasty. They can also work well as a breakfast potato dish to accompany egg dishes and such.

Pan-Baked Potatoes
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

2 tbsp butter (or margarine, oil)

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (or almond flour, bread crumbs, cornflake crumbs)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper

4 medium potatoes (or larger potatoes cooked longer or cut to those sized pieces)

paprika, to taste

Melt butter in microwave-safe bowl (about 30 – 45 seconds on High). Set aside.

Stir together Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl (one that is big enough so you can place your potatoes face down in it).

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Dip cut side of potato in butter, then in cheese mixture.

Place potatoes, cut-side up, in shallow microwave-safe baking dish or plate. Sprinkle with paprika, as desired. Pour any remaining butter over the potatoes.

Cook on High 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Shirley’s Notes: Potato halves make the loveliest presentation, but if making this recipe for your family, you can cut larger potatoes into smaller pieces for faster cooking and additional “crispy” edges. I like to poke my potatoes with a fork after I’ve cut them to ensure faster baking. You can easily adjust the recipe for more or less servings.

Adapted from Kenmore Microwave Cooking

Enjoy! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays once again to all!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!