by jphilo | Mar 12, 2014 | Recipes
Does the picture of today’s featured dish make you think spring? I hope so, because when I made it, both the Man of Steel and I decided to make it again come spring…if spring ever comes. This recipe comes from The Old World Olive Press, the same establishment where the Honey Ginger Vinegar and the Roasted Sesame oil were purchased. Here’s my version of this tasty recipe.
Asian Orzo Salad
1/2 pound broccoli florets
1 (8 oz.) package orzo, cooked and drained
1/3 cup toasted, sliced almonds
2 cups grilled chicken, diced
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
Dressing:
1/3 cup Honey Ginger White Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp, honey
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons Roasted Sesame Oil
Steam broccoli until slightly crisp. Plunge into ice water and drain well. In a large bowl. combine broccoli, orzo, chicken, onions, and red pepper. Place dressing ingredients in blender or salad shaker and mix until emulsified. Pour dressing over orzo mixture. Toss gently to coat. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Stir in almonds just before serving.
by jphilo | Mar 5, 2014 | Recipes
Every month, a newsletter from The Baker’s Pantry* arrives in my inbox. Their January newsletter featured the recipe for “The World’s Best Chicken.” Quite a claim, and I was a bit skeptical. But, the dish was dairy-free and combined some interesting ingredients, so I gave it a try.
The man of steel and I didn’t think it quite lived up to it’s name, though it was very good. Good enough to try again this summer. Maybe fresh rosemary from my herb garden instead of dried tarragon (I was out of rosemary) will elevate the dish to “World’s Best Chicken” status. Stay tuned for that announcement come June or July!
Baked Chicken with Mustard and Maple Syrup
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
Fresh rosemary
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, syrup, and vinegar.
Place chicken breasts into a baking dish. Season with salt & lots of pepper. Pour mustard mixture over chicken. Make sure each breast is coated. Add more pepper if you like.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Season with fresh rosemary and serve.
I halved amounts make the dish for two. The recipe above is the halved recipe.
*The Baker’s Pantry is an old-fashioned family-owned country store in Dallas Center, Iowa. It sells Amish, organic, and other premium quality foods purchased in bulk and repackaged. I stop by every few months to stock up on coarse ground wheat flour, bulk aluminum-free baking powder, and bulk and whole spices I can’t find anywhere else.
by jphilo | Feb 26, 2014 | Recipes
I. Love. Scones.
Probably because they make me feel so pip-pip, Downton Abbey, tip-top, jolly good, old chap and all that. Consequently, favorite scone recipe and numerous variations have been featured before on this blog. But creating a decadently delicious dairy-free scone proved illusive. But finally, thanks to my daughter’s suggestion to replace the butter with coconut oil and a splash of vinegar in Coffee Rich creamer, the quest was successful. Here’s the recipe for lemon scones, my absolute favorite.
Non-Dairy Lemon Scones
4–5 tablespoons Coffee Rich Creamer 1 1/2 teaspoons vineagar
1 3/4 cups flour 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons coconut oil 1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons lemon zest the juice of half a lemon
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.* Put vinegar into a measuring cup and add Coffee Rich Creamer to the 1/4 cup mark. Set aside to curdle.
Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in coconut oil. Add lemon zest. Add egg, lemon juice enough curdled Coffee Rich for the dough to form a ball. (Less liquid is better than more. If more liquid is needed, add a little more uncurdled Coffee Rich.) Shape dough into a circle about 1 inch thick on a greased cookie sheet. Cut circle into 12 wedges. Pull every other wedge a few inches out of the circle. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake 10 minutes. Serve hot.
*Scones baked on a hot oven stone are the best. Place the stone in the oven before setting the temperature.
by jphilo | Feb 12, 2014 | Recipes
When the man of steel and I get a hankering for marinara sauce, my modus operandus is brown a pound of hamburger, throw in a can of Hunts garlic and herb spaghetti sauce, and cook spaghetti noodles. Every time the dish makes an appearance on our dinner plates, the man of steel says the same thing while scooping up a second helping. “This is a really good batch.”
As a rule, I don’t mess with either easy-peasy or perfection. So I have no idea where the idea to make spaghetti sauce came from last week. For now I’m blaming it on the Polar Vortex. The weather phenomenon has become such a handy excuse for inexplicable behavior quirks I’m beginning to like the thing. So, compliments of the Polar Vortex, here’s the recipe for homemade marina sauce. It comes from Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg’s Once-A-Month Cooking, a cookbook I almost wore out when I was teaching and the kids were home.
Spaghetti Sauce
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 12-ounce can tomato paste
3 28-ounce cans Italian-style or plain crushed tomatoes in puree
2 cups water
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons dried basil leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1-16 ounce package spaghetti
In a large pot, brown the Italian sausage with unions. Drain fat. Stir tomato paste into the meat and onion mixture. Add water gradually to thin the tomato paste. Add remaining ingredients. Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Serve pasta and sauce for supper. Freeze remaining sauce (recipe makes about 12 cups) in 2 cup containers or freezer bags.
by jphilo | Feb 5, 2014 | Recipes
Soup weather began early this year. Our favorite soups have graced the supper table so often, we’re getting (gasp) a little tired of them. Last week I shook things up adapting a recipe for pork roast soup. The original recipe, contributed by author Nancy Mehl, can be found at Deborah Vogt’s blog, Country at Heart Recipes. The version below includes some ingredient adjustments made necessary by my inability to get to the grocery store due to this winter’s weather. How aprapros is that?
The recipe didn’t get the coveted Hiram seal of approval, but we decided it is good enough to make again. Though next time, I hope to have fresh green beans instead of can. I’m also going to add some onions, carrots, and maybe a can of Rotelle tomatoes. Stay tuned to see if that version earns Hiram’s highest level of approval.
Pork Soup
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork chops, cut into bite-sized cubes
4 slices bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 can green beans, drained
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
salt and pepper to taste
Put 2–3 quarts of water in large dutch oven or soup pot. Add pork cubes and bacon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer meat until very tender, 1–2 hours. About an hour before serving time, add green beans and potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour or until potatoes are soft. Serve hot.
by jphilo | Jan 29, 2014 | Recipes
What’s been cooking in our kitchen this January? Mostly old winter favorites and not many new recipes because of some nose-to-the-grindstone writing deadlines that leave little time to test new recipes. In lieu of something new, today’s post points to the five recipes Gravel Road readers visited the most in the last 30 days. Here goes:
5. Downton Abbey Dairy-Free Scones
4. Fabulous Franklin Chex Mix
3. Best Non-Dairy Egg Bake Ever
2. Dairy-Free Spinach Dip
1. German Chocolate Cake: Dairy Free Version
So, what’s cooking at your house this month? Leave a comment and a link to the recipe!
