Fried Calamari with Pico and Avocado Dressing Plus Pina Coladas

February 28, 2010 · Filed Under GAHIGF, appetizer, beverage, bread, dairy free, easy, entree, gluten free, recipe, salad, seafood, vegetarian · 21 Comments

When Bean over at Without Adornment announced her theme for this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival, I was completely on board. Tropical Vacation meal … oh, yeah. We had plenty of snow at the time and our Key West vacation seemed long ago. One of our favorite appetizers that often turns into a meal is Fried Calamari. We’ve eaten calamari all over in our travels from our favorite waterside restaurant “down the road”—Dockside—to much more exotic, tropical spots. Going gluten free meant giving that pleasure up. Oh, sure, I’ve heard of some restaurants that serve gluten-free calamari, but we just haven’t had the good fortune to find and visit one. So making calamari has been in the back of my mind for some time.

My goal has been to make calamari as good as what is served as that favorite local restaurant. And, it’s not just calamari. It’s delicious calamari served on a bed of shredded lettuce topped with a sweet pico de gallo and a special dressing. Here’s a photo of Dockside’s calamari.

I’ve mentioned that our grocery store is pretty basic. While I was happily surprised to find squid in the freezer case recently, I was less pleased to find out that it was a package of whole squid. Opening the package, the squid didn’t look too intimidating, but once I thawed them out, many soulful eyes stared back at me. Maybe I was having flashbacks to images of the giant squid in The Beast, starring William Petersen (before his rise to fame as Gil Grissom on C.S.I.). (Mr. GFE and Son had watched and recorded that movie and we’d watched it more than once.) In the end, I just couldn’t deal with those squid. They plain ”weirded” me out. However, I still wanted to make calamari.

So we made a trip into town to the upscale Wegmans and headed to their seafood counter. And, there they were … beautiful, headless squid bodies and tentacles. Not an eye in sight—thank goodness. The folks at the seafood counter were happy to slice the squid into rings for me while we chatted. The staff member who assisted me shared that her mom had been recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance. She added that she was also trying to eat gluten free, but she expressed frustration over the high cost of gluten free products. Of course, I shared my gfe approach. Seems like I was meant to go to that seafood counter.

Once home, it was easy to prepare the squid. I used the breading mix that I used recently for the chicken tenders and fried oysters. Sometimes if you find something that works with one application, it makes sense to try it with others. There is no need to reinvent the wheel all the time. I breaded the squid exactly the same way I had done the chicken tenders … with no egg wash. The result was very lightly breaded, melt-in-your-mouth calamari. I served them over romaine leaves cut into smaller pieces topped with pico de gallo (pico is easy to make; here’s one recipe I use) and a thick, creamy, and slightly tangy avocado dressing. It’s a great dish. But, truthfully, it’s different than our favorite calamari from Dockside. Not bad different—this calamari dish is really very good—but it is different. I will make the remaining calamari in two batches. For one I’ll use this breading, but also do the egg wash like I did for the fried oysters. I’ll also do a batch to test some gluten-free breading that I purchased a while ago. I’ll keep you updated on both.

Fried Calamari
(Click here for a printable version of this and the following recipes.)

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup gluten-free flour*
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
cooking oil (I used a mixture of grapeseed and olive oil)
2 lbs fresh, raw squid—rings and tentacles

Mix cornmeal, gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl (or paper/ziploc bag for shaking).

Dredge squid through cornmeal breading (or shake in bag). Fry in hot oil (about an inch deep on medium-high, about 375 degrees if using an electric skillet). The calamari will only take a minute or two, at most. Flip pieces when brown on one side. Remove once browned on both sides. To prevent tough calamari, do not overcook.

*I can’t tolerate many of the healthier, gluten-free flours; e.g., sorghum, buckwheat. Therefore, my gluten-free flour mix is 3 parts Asian white rice flour and 2 parts cornstarch. I gently mix three one-lb bags of the Asian white rice flour and two one-lb boxes of cornstarch in a very large bowl and then store the mix in several airtight containers (like large glass jars). It’s a very economical mix that works well in most recipes. No refrigeration is needed. If you’re interested in a complete tutorial on gluten-free flours, please read Amy’s (Simpy Sugar & Gluten-Free) post here. As always, if you are not gluten free, you can substitute all-purpose (wheat) flour instead of gluten-free flour.

Thick and Creamy Avocado Dressing

one half of an avocado, mashed
2 – 3 tbsp of Greek yogurt (to taste)
one garlic clove (I used ½ tsp minced garlic)
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil (to taste and/or consistency)
1 tsp honey

Add all to blender and blend on high a minute or two until well blended. Dollop over salad mixture and calamari as desired.

Shirley’s Notes: This dressing has more of the thickness of mayonnaise or a spread versus a true dressing. If you want a true dressing consistency, you’ll want to add more liquid: olive oil, milk, lemon juice, water, etc.—your preference.

As Bean shared on her Tropical Pork Pineapple Kabobs post, a tropical vacation meal requires a tropical drink. My faves are margaritas and pina coladas. This time I went with a pina colada. This one is gluten free and dairy free, and uses no processed mixes either. I basically took the idea of a Southern Living recipe that I’d enjoyed years ago and just revised it to use whole food ingredients, including coconut milk. Easy and luscious!

Luscious Pina Coladas

1 cup coconut milk
1 cup pineapple juice
½ cup rum
4 tbsp sugar (or other sweetener)
1 banana
1/4 cup shredded coconut
8 or more ice cubes
additional shredded coconut, if desired

Blend coconut milk, pineapple juice, rum, sugar, banana, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, and ice cubes to desired consistency. Top with additional shredded coconut, if desired.

Inspired by Southern Living

Shirley’s Notes: I like to use a frozen banana (I always have frozen baking bananas on hand), which provides a nice, thick consistency—the luscious factor in this pina colada.

If you want to stay in the tropical vacation mindset a little longer, be sure to check back at Without Adornment for the complete roundup of recipes. Thinking sunshine, turquoise blue water, warm breezes, bare legs, and wonderful tropical fare … so nice. Special thanks to Bean for hosting this month as well as ongoing thanks to Naomi (Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried) for originating the always fun and helpful Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival.

By the way, be sure to visit my Out and About page to find out who won the recent giveaway. And, we’re now into the final week before the Academy Awards presentation, more fondly known as the Oscars. Be sure to check out the complete roundup–either recipes inspired by Oscar nominees or others just right for throwing your own viewing celebration. They are definitely all award-winning caliber! My own contributions were Veronica’s Pumpkin Soup and the already mentioned Southern Fried Oysters. You can the listing of all the Gluten-Free Progressive Dinner Party recipes at our gracious hostess, Diane’s, blog events page at The. W.H.O.L.E. Gang.

Enjoy!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Tags: bananas, beverage, bread, calamari, coconut, dairy free, easy, GFE, gluten free, recipe, seafood

Wassail Recipe and More

January 21, 2010 · Filed Under Progressive Dinner, beverage, crockpot, dairy free, easy, giveaway, gluten free, recipe, slow cooker · 12 Comments

Our Gluten-Free Progressive Dinner Party (GFDP) happily continues on! Soon, folks will be coming through the door to see what I’m serving today. It’s a hot soothing wassail—recipe and photos courtesy of Stephanie O’Dea at A Year of Slow Cooking. Wassail is just right for this cold, damp day, that even has a promise of sleet and snow later. Head over to my Out and About page for the recipe and the giveaway of Stephanie’s cookbook that goes with it! UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering! The complete listing of the GFDP warm and wonderful submissions is there as well. Click here or on the Out and About tab above (giveaways, reviews, and such will always be on my Out and About page).

Even though I tried to include “everything but the kitchen sink” in Monday’s post, I still forgot to mention something—a big something. I am hosting The Gluten-Free Lifestyle Carnival for February. Always radiant and positive, Kim Hopkins, The Food Allergy Coach, originated this blog carnival last August. It’s fairly all encompassing really. In Kim’s words, the carnival is a roundup of “tips, recipes, health information, and support for people adjusting to life with celiac disease, gluten intolerance, or gluten sensitivity.” Now I know that all of you who blog gluten free can link up a post that fits that definition. So, please join in! You can submit your entry via this link. Submissions should be in by Thursday, January 28. Past roundups and future hosts are identified here. (Just click on the applicable tabs once you are on the site.) Don’t forget to check out Kim’s blog, The Food Allergy Coach. She’s looking at life from a different perspective these days and I’m so happy for her!

Don’t forget to visit my Out and About page to enter the giveaway. After you enter and your steaming, delicious wassail is ready, grab a mug and check out all the entries for the GFDP!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Tags: beverage, crockpot, dairy free, easy, GFE, gluten free, honey, recipe, slow cooker

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!