I tend to lose my appetite easily when it is grossly hot outside like it has been this week, tending towards fresh fruits and greens over carbs & meats.  There’s just one problem with desiring such lighter fare day after day – I don’t consume enough [...]]]>

I tend to lose my appetite easily when it is grossly hot outside like it has been this week, tending towards fresh fruits and greens over carbs & meats.  There’s just one problem with desiring such lighter fare day after day – I don’t consume enough calories and then I am hungry.  So how to eat something more substantial when I don’t feel like anything heavy?  Why of course, a chilled flavorful pasta salad!

Unfortunately, pasta salads for me often invoke images of mayonnaise laden macaroni concoctions at a sweltering hot picnic brunch that leave my stomach in that “sunken” feeling after eating, like a giant boulder decided to take up residence in my tummy.  It’s usually not an awesome experience.  However, thanks to my friend Stacy over at Little Blue Hen, her Greek pasta with colorful visions of artichoke hearts and olives was exactly the inspiration I needed.  A light olive oil and vinegar dressing and some great bright flavors sounded perfect to me.

Most everything I had already in my pantry too, which means I didn’t have to go back out in the heat to the store to buy things.  Not that going to the store is an issue, but climbing the freaking hill back up to our apartment is.  Did I ever tell you that I am a complete wimp in the heat (especially if there is no A/C to be had)?  There’s a reason why most of my work & travels have been to cooler regions, or why my husband and I chose the chilly windy New England shore in the Autumn rather than a tropical Caribbean island for our honeymoon.  A beach all to myself on a day where the high is 50ºF with 30 knot winds?  Now that’s my kinda vacation:

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The success of cooking is as much dependent on how well one follows the directions of a good recipe as it is on being able to add a personal element – either to suit your tastes, your current pantry, or just to [...]]]>

The success of cooking is as much dependent on how well one follows the directions of a good recipe as it is on being able to add a personal element – either to suit your tastes, your current pantry, or just to give a recipe a little bit of flair to help you make a dish become a part of you.  And that’s why I’m going to be embarking on a little project.  Over the next month or so, I’m going to make for you a guide.  A guide to GF ingredients, a guide to knowing when you can switch one thing for the other – in the hopes of giving you more tools to enjoy your gluten free cooking.  I’m going to aim for a month to put it together, and I hope it will help you.

One of the hardest facets of gluten free baking is making the right decisions about substitutions – When does it matter what flours are in a recipe?  When can you just substitute a box mix?  Is it really necessary to own 20 different types of ingredients to make something?  If you are like me, you probably have a base of 4-5 flours that you use regularly, and when you see a recipe with someone else’s gluten free flour mix, you do your best to make do with what you own rather than going out to spend even more money at the store – cause let’s face it – gluten free ingredients often bring a whole new definition to pricey groceries.  I think about substitutions almost every time I bake gluten free – sometimes I am sure the end result will come out great and other times I’m praying to the gluten free baking gods that whatever is in the oven will turn out edible.  As you probably well know, baking is not my original area of expertise, and even I am prone to a mess-up or two.

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Read the rest of Strawberry Chocolate & Banana Quick-Bread (666 words)

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Yes, you read the title right.  Bagels.  Gluten free bagels.  Until last week the idea had crossed my mind a few times, and all I could picture are those kinds that come frozen in a bag that you have to microwave to defrost [...]]]>

Yes, you read the title right.  Bagels.  Gluten free bagels.  Until last week the idea had crossed my mind a few times, and all I could picture are those kinds that come frozen in a bag that you have to microwave to defrost at which point they become a bit mushy for my taste.  My husband likes them.  He misses not having those frozen bagels available to buy.  But that’s because it’s been SO long since he’s had a truly good bagel.  I’m talking about one you can make a sandwich out of, sink your teeth into and let your tongue dance on the sweet and soft flavors as they cross over each part of your mouth – the kind where you lick your lips fast as you can after taking a bite because it would be a high crime to allow any crumb to fall to the merciless floor, wasted.

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Read the rest of NY Style Sun-Dried Tomato Bagels, Gluten Free (1,704 words)

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Sometimes I have to remind myself, that while we generally like the same tastes, it’s just so rewarding to see my husband’s face light up when he gets excited about some things, like this dish.  I asked him as we were walking home from work one day if he [...]]]>

Sometimes I have to remind myself, that while we generally like the same tastes, it’s just so rewarding to see my husband’s face light up when he gets excited about some things, like this dish.  I asked him as we were walking home from work one day if he thought this sounded good, and he instantly transformed from a serious scientist to a 6 year old boy again.  You would have thought I had just suggested having Christmas, it was so precious.

I made a yummy cheesy dish, a creamy “taco mac” – I saw Annie post this a few days ago and while I knew I would certainly like the flavors, I knew that my husband would just fall in love with the dish.  He goes out of his way to do so many great and wonderful things for me, I want to show my appreciation even if it’s something as small as dinner.

For you see, food is like poetry.  It can be a simple short and sweet sonnet, like this quick and easy dinner, or it can be an adoring ode to love, saying what ordinary words never could.  I am not so good with my words, so I choose to write poems with food instead.  All sorts of different types, blending new flavors together to bring out emotions and memories, but with each one pouring out a little bit of my soul, and my love.  I’m so glad my husband knows how to translate

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Couscous is one of those dishes that seems impossible to replace gluten free.  Quinoa just doesn’t cut it.  Quinoa’s flavor is too distinct, and its texture is not quite right.  I find it very hard to flavor quinoa in a way that lets it melt into other flavors – [...]]]>

Couscous is one of those dishes that seems impossible to replace gluten free.  Quinoa just doesn’t cut it.  Quinoa’s flavor is too distinct, and its texture is not quite right.  I find it very hard to flavor quinoa in a way that lets it melt into other flavors – it’s always standing out above the rest.  This is great for some dishes, but not so much for others, such as cous cous.

I thought I could make couscous myself.  After all, there is nothing really gluten-dependent about couscous – no stretchy dough, no air pockets to trap – and this great lesson on flour from Rouxbe shows that you could basically make it by adding water to flour in a food processor until small pellets form.  Figuring out the right amount of water to add is not obvious though, and I kept going from my starting gluten free flour to a play-dough-like consistency – not really ideal for couscous!  I didn’t feel like wasting flour trying to get this right, so decided I may not just be ready for homemade gluten free couscous yet…

Giving up on making my own, I sought out a decent replacement, and whole millet seemed to be about the right size and shape.  I love using millet flour because of its mild flavor, and was thinking whole millet would be similar in taste.  Besides, if we can find a new grain to use, that opens up my culinary options a lot!  Millet is apparently decently nutritious as well, with a good protein content and lots of great things like B vitamins.  Asking around on twitter it seems that not that many people use millet – is this the “forgotten” gluten free grain?  If so, millet really deserves more credit.  I’ll even admit until this week I had never had whole millet before either, but now we will definitely be having millet more often!

For my first time making it, I really liked it.  It absorbed flavor well and had a very pleasing texture – easy and relatively quick, preparing millet “couscous” made for a convenient week-night meal.  We do need convenience sometimes, especially on those nights where neither one of us gets home from work til 8 pm.  After an a 10 hr work day and lunch having occurred 8 hours ago, dinner needs to be simple!

Couscous dishes are very versatile in that you can flavor them pretty much anyway you want.  For my millet version, I kind of threw together a rather random looking set of ingredients and flavors, but they came together quite nicely.  Ok, I may have gone a little overboard on the paprika, but I love that earthy smoky flavor, and it worked really well with the chicken here.  If you are not such a huge fan of paprika, definitely use whatever flavors you actually like.  This was essentially a one-pot, no frills, no fuss meal – there’s nothing wrong with throwing in your own ingredients or ideas, it’s better to keep things no fuss than to stress about having exactly what is in one particular recipe.  This recipe is just an idea that we happened to eat and love.  I encourage you to make your own variations, and get creative!

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Pizza dough is an awesome vehicle for enjoying whatever flavors you like.  You are not beholden to marinara sauce, or even mozzarella cheese!  Past pizzas I’ve made have included some less traditional flavors, like my Spanish pizza, or chicken apricot & brie.  Beets, fennel, and [...]]]>

Pizza dough is an awesome vehicle for enjoying whatever flavors you like.  You are not beholden to marinara sauce, or even mozzarella cheese!  Past pizzas I’ve made have included some less traditional flavors, like my Spanish pizza, or chicken apricot & brie.  Beets, fennel, and orange are a common combination in many a Winter salad, so i thought it might be fun to try on a pizza!

Fennel is one of those vegetables I really need to use more of – it’s funny that I cannot stand licorice, but I love fennel.  I think the flavor is more subtle in fennel, especially when it has been roasted or cooked.  I decided here to caramelize it a bit with brown sugar just to sweeten it a bit and mellow the flavor out.  The overall blend?  Quite nice – I’ve been on a thing lately really trying to see how to contrast sweet & savory flavors together, and I think this pizza is a good marriage of different taste qualities – while the fennel, orange, and deep earthy beets are slightly sweet, the spinach pesto and garlic herbed goat-cheese at first would seem like a very disjointed set to try to blend with them – but in fact each taste is quite distinguishable and still a pleasant combination in the mouth – I love finding flavors that work so well together!  It’s like discovering a unique treasure every time.

This pizza is my submission for this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free hosted by Amy of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.  Her theme was guiltless pleasures.  This was actually probably one of the hardest themes for me to create something for, and I’m still not sure this pizza fits the bill.  But I’m submitting it anyways.  I find that everyone’s definition of healthy is so different and varied that I could not possibly create something “guiltless” and a “pleasure” for everyone.  So many people take issue with carbs, or fat, or calories, to cut out every single one of those things would be a challenge indeed.  Personally, I’m not really sure substituting out naturally indulgent ingredients is always the way to go.  If something calls for bacon fat and butter, it’s going to be pretty darned delicious and any healthier substitutions are not going to have the same satisfaction.  I would much rather instead eat a fully indulgent food and just control my intake through portion size.  It keeps the ingredients simpler and brings a comfort that only certain flavors can bring.  But because of this outlook, I cannot rightfully call anything I have ever made guiltless.  I keep myself guiltless through portion control/calorie counting, and as long as I understand a concept of size and make sure to eat a diet full of lots of great fresh whole ingredients, I do well for myself.  Such a philosophy cannot work for everybody, but I am sure most people like to eat flavorful food made from fresh ingredients, which is the main focus of eating this very unique pizza.

I created this pizza to highlight the bright flavor of some oft-forgotten veggies – this pizza was a great dish, not just because it contains healthy veggies and fruit, but because the flavors were rich and bright without weighing too heavily on the stomach.  Perfect for the days when the sun starts to shine again and you get that little kid giggly feeling in your stomach where the excitement rushes through your body like a wave of energy – you just want to run around with the wind caressing your face and you haven’t a care in the world, even if it lasts just a brief moment until the sun shyly hides back behind a safe and secure cloud.

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I was so excited to see my boxes of stuff arrive in the mail this week, but until the moment where I ripped them open with the glee and enthusiasm matching a six-year-old’s on Christmas morning, I had totally forgotten that in one of those boxes was [...]]]>

I was so excited to see my boxes of stuff arrive in the mail this week, but until the moment where I ripped them open with the glee and enthusiasm matching a six-year-old’s on Christmas morning, I had totally forgotten that in one of those boxes was a great set of gluten free lasagna noodles.  So of course we had to make some lasagna!  Despite the number of times I have eaten lasagna, I had never actually made it myself.  And, true to tradition, I simply glanced at a couple of recipes to figure out proportions of cheese required and then set off on my own.

I wanted to cook something a little lighter than a typical tomato based lasagna, if for no other reason than I’ve been eating a lot of “mountain food” lately, and my physical activity level really doesn’t justify that as a regular eating habit, even though it tastes so good (mmm pasta & cheese = heaven)!  So I decided that chicken and spinach would be a good alternative the a slow-cooked bolognese style meat sauce that my mother is famous for.  Ha.  This turned out to be “lighter” than I originally anticipated, because when my husband went to the store the only chicken available to buy was 53 CHF/kg!!  So we only got 100g of chicken (a little less than 1/4 lb.).  And then we stretched it out to four entire servings of lasagna.  In a way it is good, because we should probably be eating more vegetables and less meat anyways.  Better for health, better for the environment, yada yada yada – insert latest study about meat in diets here.  I guess I should clarify that last statement.  I do care about how food relates to health and the environment, almost obsessively so.  I really do.  But you’ve all heard it before, and my last cafe crème has not kicked in yet, so I don’t really have the energy at the moment to explain all the benefits of eating less meat.

Anyways, back to lasagna.  Because there is no weighty sauce here, it really does have a lighter feel than a traditional lasagna.  All I did for a “sauce” was add a bit of milk, which just helped to keep everything moist while baking.  I love the combination of spinach and chicken, which were definitely the predominant flavors and textures here (the shallots and garlic were pretty subtle after baking), except for the sporadic zap of flavor from the occasional piece of sun-dried tomato.  Actually, maybe sun-dried tomatoes should be part of the name of this lasagna because of their potency in this dish.  Even though baked, the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes does not mellow out one bit  - something that I love about them.  I added them specifically because I love that punch of sweet and tart that they bring all at once.  It’s a wonderful contrast to the mild and comforting creamy ricotta and mozzarella that blends so seemlessly with the chicken and spinach.  I love contrasting flavors in the same dish.  I think it’s what keeps taste interesting during a meal.  Contrast doesn’t have to mean an unlikely pairing, just a difference in flavors and textures.  For this lasagna, the sun-dried tomatoes served that purpose, and did it well.

Ingredients (Serves 4):
100g (around 4 oz.) of GF or regular lasagna noodles
2 tbs. olive oil
100g (around 4 oz.) chicken, tenderloin or breast or your favorite cut
2 tbs. butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp. italian herbs
pepper to taste
2 shallots, sliced
8 or so slices of sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
100g (around 4 oz.) spinach
1 tomato, peeled, deseeded and chopped
1/2 cup milk
1 cup ricotta
6 oz. mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup milk
parsley for garnish

Directions:
1. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.  Drain, toss with a little olive oil to keep from sticking, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350F.
2.  Saute chicken in olive oil until fully cooked and browned.  Slice and set aside.
3. In the same pan, add butter, and then  saute garlic, herbs, pepper, shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, and mushrooms until the shallots are softened and the mushrooms start to brown a bit.  Then add in the tomato and spinach.  Once the spinach is wilted, stir in the milk and saute for a few more minutes to let everything come together.
4.  In a casserole dish (around 8″ x 8″), layer noodles, then  spinach mixture, then half the ricotta, then 2 oz. mozzarella and the chicken.  Pour in about 1/4 cup of milk just to help keep everything moist while baking.  Top with noodles, then spinach mixture, then rest of the ricotta, 2 more oz. mozzarella and one final layer of noodles.  Finally, top with 2 oz. of grated mozzarella.
5. Bake dish in the oven for around an hour, or until the top is quite browned and you can see melted cheesy goodness seeping out.  Sorry I didn’t really time this and don’t have a more specific metric.
6. When done, remove from oven, plate, and garnish with parsley for a little color.  Enjoy!

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Did I ever mention that it is really cold here in the Winter?  Well, the temperatures aren’t so cold (usually +/- 5? C), but so far it has been a very wet Winter with some type of precipitation almost every day.  My husband even took a picture [...]]]>

Did I ever mention that it is really cold here in the Winter?  Well, the temperatures aren’t so cold (usually +/- 5? C), but so far it has been a very wet Winter with some type of precipitation almost every day.  My husband even took a picture during one of the snows we had last week – the snow is beautiful for sure!  But that dampness combined with the wind and chill is enough to make anyone want to curl up in their favorite wool sweater with a large mug of tea and just forget the outdoors.  Part of that comes from the amount of walking outside that one does here on a daily basis, which is not the most pleasant when it’s cold and rainy/snowy/icy/etc. out.  This risotto was meant for just one of those days, made with wine, squash, chanterelles, and sausage, specifically saucisson vaudois.

We (my husband and I) debated for a while about putting cheese in this or not.  In the end we didn’t.  It had so much great flavor we wanted to just leave it alone and enjoy it as is.  If you make this, and decide to add some cheese, let me know what you added and how it came out, I’m curious.  As for the squash, I have no idea what type of squash it was.  It looked like a slice from a giant pumpkin, but the woman selling it at the market didn’t call it potiron (French for pumpkin), she simply called it courge when I asked her its name, which in French simply means “squash” according to my trusty Google translator.  So I have no idea.  It definitely wasn’t a pumpkin though, I could tell that immediately by the taste, and also by the fact that its skin was more akin to a butternut squash.  Maybe someone can let me know.  But if you find a giant pumpkin looking veggie with a butternut squash type skin, that was it.  It was delicious, definitely pick it up!

Oh, and for those of you curious about the saucisson vaudois, which I also used with chanterelles to make an awesome omelette, this is what it looks like:

Isn’t that marbling of fat and meat together just beautiful?  So far I think I could very much enjoy the Swiss culture of food.  And I still love how every time I walk into a grocery store I find a good 2 aisles dedicated solely to chocolate.  I could write a whole post about chocolate haha, so I should leave that for another time. For now I’ll just say, it is great.

Ok back to risotto.  Squash, fresh chanterelle mushrooms, and local smoked sausage along with white wine make for a great flavor profile.  Instead of using a veggie or chicken broth as is typical of risotto, I instead used the water from boiling the squash. It was bright orange and quite flavorful.  I decided to boil the squash because I wanted it to literally melt into the risotto.  Risotto is one of those dishes were texture is extremely important.  While flavor can vary widely in the dish – I myself had made several varieties – the texture must be perfect.  It can NOT be underdone at all.  Risotto al dente is not risotto.  On the other hand, overdone risotto is gummy and chewy, and not in a good way.  The trick to risotto is 1) patience and 2) careful babysitting/timing.  Just make sure to add a little bit of liquid at a time, stir often, and be patient.  Taste often until you get a sense for the timing that you will need to achieve the perfect texture.  When you lift the spoon up to your mouth and taste a few grains of rice, and every flavor swirls seamlessly in your mouth leaving you wondering how you ever got on before eating such creamy smooth rice like this, then you are at the right place.  It took me a couple of times before I really understood that point with risotto.

Once you grasp the technique of risotto, you can really do anything with it.  Risotto can be the backdrop for so many flavors and varied it in countless ways.  But this, this might just be my favorite yet.

Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients
500g (about 1 lb) of courge or squash, peeled and diced
5 c. water (will become the broth)
2 tbs. butter
1 cup arborio rice
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
150 g  (about 1/3 lb.) saucisson vaudois (or smoked sausage), casing removed and chopped
pinch dried rosemary
1 cup white wine
100 g (about 4 oz.) chanterelles, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Add water and squash to a medium pot and bring to a boil.  Boil about 30 minutes, or until all of the squash is very soft.  Take the squash out, mash and set aside, reserve the broth and keep it on a low simmer.
2.  Melt butter in a large (10″ or bigger) saute pot, and add rice, garlic, shallots, sausage, and rosemary.  Saute until rice is golden.  Deglaze with a healthy splash of white wine, giving a good stir.  Then, pour in the rest of the wine and turn the heat down to an active simmer.  Add in mashed squash and chopped chanterelles, stirring often (every 30 s or so).
3.  Using the “broth” from the squash, gradually add about 1/2 cup at a time to the rice, still stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and at that perfect texture.  You want to add a little at a time as this is what will give it that creamy texture.  Once risotto is done, remove from heat and serve immediately.

Also Submitted To – Friday Foodie Fix

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us