Gluten Free Birthday Feast

 My entire family has birthdays that land in April/May which makes it a crazy month for birthday presents.  This year since my spring break fell right in between all of them I decided to make a birthday dinner for my mom and dad.  My sister has them on this new meal plan  (which is working very well even though I let me dad buy baked goods at Costco...sorry Jen) so I made homemade gluten free pasta with two different kinds of sauce.  The actually tried two different gluten free pasta recipes and we picked the best one.  I had to substitute the quinoa flour for tapioca flour because I couldn't find it.  This was my first attempt at homemade pasta and it was pretty easy.  I definitely have to use that pasta maker more.

gluten free pasta dough

Another use for my drying rack.  =)

rolling out the dough

The lamb ragu was very easy and the best tasting sauce.  The second sauce I made up taking the ingredients from my crostata from the last post.  I sauteed swiss chard, leeks, red pepper flakes, and garlic.  Then threw in some ricotta and some of the pasta water.   My sister liked it which means it had to be good, but she said it would have been even better with some pancetta and I agree..  She is even pickier than Rob.

 For as long as I remember my mom has talked about Baked Alaska.  She has never tried it so I decided to make it for her instead of the gluten free strawberry shortcake I was going to try and create myself.  I found a gluten free recipe for the cake.  It was a little on the dry side but still tasty.

I filled mine with a mix of chocolate
and vanilla, vanilla and strawberry
and butter pecan.

I then whipped up some meringue and covered the cake and ice cream.

Then I popped them into a 500 degree oven for three minutes.  We watched them carefully so that they wouldn't burn.  Next time I am hoping to use one of those mini blow torches.  =)

Overall it was a very successful birthday feast that just happened to be gluten free!

Amazing!

I had seen this recipe while I was at the gym.  (Yes I watch the Food Network at the gym.)  I like Anne Burrell's food and this recipe intrigued me.  I had never had swiss chard but though I would try it.  The only problem was I needed a reason to make it. (Rob definitely wouldn't eat it.)  Last Friday I had some friends over and decided to let them be my guinea pigs. The dough came together super easy.  I do wish I had purchased a full size food processor instead of my little baby one though.  I made the dough by hand the day before and rolled it out that day.  Next time I will definitely flour my board more because it did stick, but I was able to get it back together fairly easily.  I started to get a little nervous when I put it in the oven because all the liquid in the filling started smoking up my oven.  It dried out quickly though and started puffing up into a beautiful looking pizza-like creation.  And boy was it tasty!  I will definitely be making this one again.




Note - I didn't use regular ricotta, I went to Fairway and got the fresh, dry ricotta so that the filling wouldn't be too wet.

Wanted: Crock-pot with a Timer

Tacos.  This is now my go to recipe for days when we are both working late.  But I have never been the biggest fan of the normal, ground beef, taco seasoning ones.  Don't get me wrong.  They are good, but I really have to be in the mood for them.  I started making shredded chicken tacos in the crock-pot.  It is probably the easiest recipe I have ever made.  There are only 3 ingredients.

1 jar salsa (sometimes I get creative and use different types of salsa; black bean and corn, peach, etc.  I always have to hide the beans from Rob though.)
juice of 1 lime
boneless chicken breasts or thighs  (I have used a thick chuck steak and then shredded that.  Also delicious)

The problem is that our crock-pot doesn't have a timer.  When we registered for one for our wedding I never thought I would actually use it.  My mom never did so I didn't really see the need for it, but because Rob was obsessed with our wedding registry and making sure that we had everything that the "experts" said you needed, we ended up with a simple low/high one.  Since we get home late on taco days our meat is always overcooked.  This time I tried braising the chuck steak in the dutch oven (it was a weekend and we were home).  I think I had the wrong cut of meat and/or didn't cook it long enough because it was a little chewy. It tasted good though.

I serve these with flour tortillas (corn if my sister is over - no gluten), roasted corn (frozen corn added to a hot, dry pan and toasted until it is brownish in color), cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and guacamole (my favorite).

These got a "good" on Rob's scale even though the meat could have been better.  I definitely need to head to the store to find a good crock-pot with a timer.  Any suggestions?

The Makings of a Perfect Lunch

1. breaded eggplant cutlets (panko bread crumbs seasoned with italian seasoning, salt, & pepper)
2. deli flats
3. fresh mozz
4. roasted peppers
5. balsamic dressing
6. really good friends!

Every once in a while I have a craving for an eggplant sandwich so I get all my ingredients out and start making them.  BUT Rob doesn't eat eggplant so I end up cooking more than I can eat.  I decided to bring in all of the fixings and have a lunch with some of the wonderful teachers I work with.  Since we all usually work through lunch it is a nice way to force us to eat together and chat about things other than work.  =)

(This lunch also included strawberries and delicious chocolate chip cookies.)