Bean enchiladas

Do you have an enchilada recipe you love? We are so simple with ours, it is a bit embarrassing. First, we go get some fresh corn tortillas from a local tortillaria, make some guacamole, make pico or salsa, shred some cheese, and get the beans.

12 corn tortillas
Refried beans or 1 can
2 C shredded cheese
Salsa or Green chile sauce
Guacamole
Chopped onion

Spread beans on the tortillas, top with cheese and roll. Put into baking dish, cover with green chile sauce, cheese, and chopped onions. Bake on 375 till bubbly.
Serve with salad, salsa, and guacamole.

**We say yum. I canned the salsa in the late summer this year.

Smoked Gouda Chipotle Grits

Finally- after looking at this recipe for months tacked to the fridge door (I cut it out from Bon Appetite)- it is time to try it. I couldn't get smoked gouda from Whole Foods, but they suggested a smoked fontina which I used. My youngest made this meal. I should have noticed how many servings it made before it got made! Yikes.

Makes 10 servings

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, unsalted
• 2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 5 cups water
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups cups quick-cooking white hominy grits
• 2 cups (packed) coarsely grated rindless smoked Gouda cheese (about 8 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo (or jalapenos)
• Chopped fresh cilantro

1. Melt butter in large heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add corn and onion. Saute until onion is golden, about 10 minutes.
2. Add water, milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
3. Gradually add grits, whisking until mixture is smooth and returns to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer until grits are thick and tender, whisking often, about 15 minutes.
5. Mix in cheese and chipotle chile. Stir until cheese melts. Transfer grits to a shallow bowl. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

 **Nice and easy. You have to like smoked cheese to really like this dish. It would be really nice served with a pork loin, I think.

Beijing Hot Noodles

I saw this recipe while looking through a cookbook on Food Trucks. It is a new e-cookbook offered through epicurious. I found it online at serious eats.

• 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 green onions, minced (more if they are small)
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/4 cup ground bean sauce (you can find this at Talin Market)
• 1 (12-ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
• 1 tablespoon chile oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
• 1/2 pound or less rice vermicelli noodles, soaked
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced

 Heat the oil in a wok or heavy, deep sauté pan over high heat for 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the green onions and ground pork and cook until the pork is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the ground bean sauce, tofu, chile oil, salt, and sugar and toss to coat, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the sesame oil and pepper, stir, and turn off the heat.

Divide the lo mein noodles among individual plates, place the cucumber alongside, and top the noodles with the pork and tofu mixture. Serve immediately.

** We all thought this needed to be much spicier. It was nice. I look forward to making Vietnamese rolls with the leftovers. It was a super quick dish to make. 

Daube Provencal

I got this recipe many years ago from who knows where. I tried to find in on the internet and came up with something close on a French site. You'll need to translate the page, unless you speak French! Below is the recipe that I used. We will serve this with mashed potatoes, although I made a note that it might be good with baked polenta, as well.

3 lbs chuck roast, cut into cubes
1 pint mushrooms, sliced (unless small)
3 onions sliced
1 small onion, studded with 5 cloves
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 carrots, sliced on bias
4-5 shallots, sliced
2 beef bouillon cubes (or 2 t)
1 bottle dry red wine
1 T tomato paste
1 bay leaf
2 T red wine vinegar

In dutch oven, saute meat in very hot oil, so it browns quickly without rendering juices. Set aside.
Saute mushrooms quickly (no juices). Set aside.
Saute onions, garlic, carrots, and shallots till onion is slightly caramelized.
Add the meat and mushrooms back into the pot.
Drop in bouillon and pour in the bottle of wine.
Add the tomato paste, bay leaf, studded onion, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer on low for at least one hour- the longer the better for the meat to get really tender.

**Delicious.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

We often have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. So this year, I went on the hunt for a gluten free cinnamon roll. I took a bit of a chance, not having tried it earlier. I found this recipe on The Baking Beauties site. You should have a look! This recipe goes on for miles, but if you get a helper you can finish them in a snap. There are 3 distinct sections- the dough, the filling, and the topping. I would recommend you start with the filling, then the dough, then roll it, then chill the roll. While the roll is chilling, make the topping. 

Filling:
Combine:

• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, very soft
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp. cinnamon

NOTE: Once thoroughly blended, you may add 1/2 cup re-hydrated raisins or pecans or walnuts.(optional)

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (see note)
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 Tbsp rapid rise yeast
• 3 Tbsp white sugar (I used organic raw sugar)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp guar gum (I used 1 t vegetarian gelatin)
• 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry)
• 1 tsp baking powder
•  4 Tbsp margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 tsp vanilla (oops- I forgot this!)

NOTE: 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix all dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
2. Put water and margarine in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the margarine has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add other wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
3. With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you have to.
4. Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
5. Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on a slightly damp counter top, so it covers an area bigger than 8″ x 16″. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Gently lay another piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish shape. Lift and reposition the top plastic wrap whenever you need to. Roll the dough out (with the plastic wrap on top) to a square approximately 8″ x 16″.
6. Remove plastic wrap. Spread filling mixture evenly across dough’s surface. Leave 1 1/2″ along one long end without any filling, this is where your cinnamon rolls will be sealed.
7. Starting along the long end, use the bottom sheet of plastic wrap to lift the edge of the dough and roll it up, forming a long cylinder. Start with the edge that has filling on it, that will be the center of your finished rolls.

At this point, you may need to chill your dough. I certainly needed to- because I used butter, the dough was super sticky and I couldn't lift the cut pieces into the pan without a minor disaster.


Topping:
Over low heat, in a small saucepan, heat 4 Tbsp. butter (or margarine), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. corn syrup, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 Tbsp. whipping cream and a pinch of salt. Stir to incorporate. Remove from heat and pour into the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan.

Pull your chilled cylinder out of the fridge/freezer.

1. Using a long piece of dark thread or dental floss, cut the long “cinnamon bun log” into 8 pieces, about 1 1/2″ wide.  This way, you won’t be squishing your dough down by cutting with a knife. Place rolls in prepared pan, with cut side up.
2. Allow the cinnamon rolls/buns to rise in a warm, draft free place for about 30 minutes, or until nearly double in size.
3. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are a nice golden brown.
4. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before inverting on a serving tray, and let the syrup run down over the rolls.

**This is how they looked when I inverted them.
waiting on the photo to upload...
**This is how they looked on the plate. They were oh so yummy!

Chicken Pot Pie-2

Recipe number two for chicken pot pie. I liked it better than the first recipe. I roasted the chicken with the Roast Chicken with Herbs recipe and saved the drippings. The topping for the pie was gluten-free. I got that recipe from Silvanas Kitchen. Here is my best guess as to how I made the filling.

1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C frozen peas
Other veggies
2 C cooked chicken, cut into small cubes

Saute onions, celery, and carrots till the onion is slightly transparent. Add chopped mushrooms and saute just a bit. Then add frozen peas and any other vegies you want. I added some left over roasted potatoes cut into cubes. Then add your cooked chicken. Pour this into a baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

1/4 C chicken drippings (from your roasted chicken) or butter or oil
1/4 C GF flour mix
3 T corn starch
3 C vegetable stock

Mix the flours and fat together over medium heat till smooth. Then add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer till thickened. Add to the vege mixture.

GF Crust for topping

1¾ cups (245g) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (117g) butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg (58g), lightly beaten, plus 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

In a food processor, combine the flour blend, salt and butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add the beaten egg; pulse until the dough almost forms a ball. Remove the dough and gather it into a ball.

Place a piece of plastic wrap on a clean surface. Lightly dust with flour blend and place the dough on top, sprinkle with more flour and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a shape that will cover your baking dish. Remove the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Flip the dough on top of the pie filling and remove the plastic wrap. Trim any excess dough, crimp crust edges together. Brush the dough with the egg wash and make 3 slits on top. Place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips); bake until golden, about 1 hour.

**I forgot to take a photo before we dove in. This is my favorite chicken pot pie so far.

Gluten Free Pizza

Still on the look out for a great gluten-free pizza crust. I ran across one on this site, glutenfree goddess. If you are looking for gluten-free recipes, Karina's is a site to explore.

Karina's Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Recipe

Grease two 12-inch pizza pans and dust lightly with gluten-free flour. Set aside. (I sprayed one large jelly roll pan with baking spray)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:

2 cups tapioca flour/starch
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup millet flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons organic light brown sugar

Set aside.

Proof the yeast:

1 1/4 cup warm water (between 110 - 115 degrees F)
1 teaspoon organic light brown sugar
1 packet (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

Dissolve the light brown sugar in the warm water and add the active dry yeast. Stir and let the yeast get happy and puffy.

Add the proofed yeast and water to the dry ingredients.

Mix in:

1/4 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup beaten organic free-range egg whites (or egg replacer for two eggs)
1/4 teaspoon light tasting rice vinegar

Beat the dough until smooth and sticky. The pizza dough should be creamy smooth and not too thick- it's not sturdy like typical bread dough. It almost borders on batter. (I added another 1/8 C water, but mine still didn't look like batter- more like bread dough)

Using a silicone spatula divide the dough in half. Scoop each half onto the center of a prepared pizza pan. Using clean, wet hands press down lightly and flatten the dough to create a thin, even pizza shell, with slightly raised edges. You'll have to rinse your hands more than once to do this. Take your time to smooth out the dough with wet palms.
Set the pizza shells in a warm cozy spot to rest and rise a bit- about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

When the oven is hot, place the two pizza pans side by side on the center rack (if your oven is too small to accommodate both pans on one rack, you'll need to use two racks; rotate the pans half way through baking time to avoid overcooking on the lower rack).

Bake for ten minutes till golden. (This took me longer- about 3-4 minutes more)

Remove from the oven. Preheat the broiler. I didn't do this step. I left the oven on at 400.

Brush the pizza shell with extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and fresh garlic. Sprinkle with Italian herbs. (I brushed mine with a mixture of olive and garlic oil, and then started adding my veggies). 

I used:

Fresh baby spinach leaves and basil
Roasted beetroot
Roasted winter squash
Feta cheese
Country olives
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil all over the top

Karina says to broil briefly to melt the cheese, 4-5 minutes. I put mine back in the oven, instead at 400.  Either way- Don't over cook.

Cook time:20 min

Yield: Makes two 12-inch pizzas

**Pretty easy crust to make. You could hold it without it breaking. It was pretty good. I will be using this crust recipe again. I'd like to try it next with a tomato paste base.