by jphilo | Mar 27, 2013 | Recipes
Remember the church camp fundraiser mentioned in yesterday’s post? Well, in addition to baking pies for the dessert auction, I was asked to bring either refried beans or Mexican rice for the taco bar that preceded the auction. (The purpose of the taco bar was to make people think they’d eaten something healthy first and could therefore indulge in the desserts they purchased at hugely inflated prices.)
Well, Hiram doesn’t care for refried beans all that much, and since I didn’t want to be in charge of eating musical fruit leftovers by myself, I decided to give Mexican rice a shot. Of course, once I found the recipe at The Pioneer Woman Cooks website, it was too late to go to the store for the exact ingredients, so my version was full of substitutions. Despite the substitutions and the use of brown rice, which needs more cooking time than the Pioneer Woman’s recipe required, the dish turned out very well. Good enough that I want to try it again with the right ingredients, especially the cumin and cilantro. Yum!
Mexican Rice
Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 cups brown rice
2 cans Rotell tomatoes, undrained
2 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Heat a little olive oil in large skillet. Add onions and saute for a few minutes. Add rice and stir well. Add garlic and continue to stir until rice starts to turn golden-brown. Add tomatoes and stir. Add broth, bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer. Cover and cook for 30-35 minutes. Stir every ten minutes or so. Add more broth or water if needed, until rice is cooked and tender and liquid is absorbed. Serve hot.
by jphilo | Mar 20, 2013 | Recipes
Driving on our gravel road has been an adventure late, thanks to the ruts created by the double whammy of a winter snowstorm and the spring thaw happening at the same time. The ruts kept me out of both the bars (which I don’t frequent), and the grocery store (which I visit on a pretty regular basis.) So meals this week have been an exercise in creative substitutions. Some dishes did not receive the coveted Hiram seal of approval, but the one featured today was a rousing success.
The original recipe, Pasta Risotto with Peas and Pancetta, was published in the March 8–10, 2013 issue of USA Weekend Magazine. The recipe below is the substitute version, but you can click on the link to see the original. It was very easy to make and took less than a half hour to prepare.
Macaroni Risotto with Peas and Bacon
1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, diced
1 1/4 cups frozen peas
8 ounces uncooked macaroni (about 2 cups)
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon soft butter substitute
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
Brown bacon in a heavy frying pan or Dutch oven. When it is bronze and crisp, use a slotted spoon to place it on a plate lined with paper toweling. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of grease. Add peeled, quartered garlic clove to grease and cook until golden; discard garlic.
Add peas and stir for a moment, until the frozen look leaves them. Add macaroni and stir, then add the boiling water. Turn down the heat and let simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to stop it from sticking. If needed, add a little more boiling water.
When it’s ready, the macaroni should be soft and starchy and the water absorbed. Add the butter substitute and Parmesan* and beat until well mixed. Add the bacon and stir until mixed. Serve immediately.
*The amount of Parmesan was so small, it didn’t bother my allergies. But if you’re worried, just leave it out and let diners sprinkle cheese on individual helpings…or not!
by jphilo | Mar 13, 2013 | Recipes
Last Friday was Hiram’s birthday, and as is the tradition at our house, the birthday person chose the menu. So what did the birthday boy choose? Round Steak Roll-Ups, a dish I made for him when we were dating in college, and we looked like this:
Instead of like this:
I haven’t made the dish in at least 20 years, probably longer. After a diligent search of my old cookbooks, it seemed the recipe, like Hiram’s hair and my unlined face, was long gone. Today’s recipe is my best recollection of the original, and it received the coveted Hiram seal of approval…though neither of us could eat quite as much of it as we did the first time it graced our table.
Round Steak Roll-Ups
1 1/2 pounds tenderized round steak
1 4 ounce can mushroom pieces, finely minced
1/2 cup onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons sweet pepper, finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cut round steak into 4, roughly rectangular pieces. Put a couple teaspoons of sweet pepper, onion, and mushroom on each piece. Roll each piece up, from the long side, and secure with toothpicks.
Heat oil in frying pan on medium-high heat. Put rolled up steak pieces in pan and brown, turning periodically until all sides are brown. Add remaining onion near the end of browning process, and continue cooking until they begin to caramelize. Add 1 1/2 cups water and bring to boil. Add any remaining mushrooms and pepper. Turn down heat until liquid simmers gently. Put lid on pan and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check liquid level in pan every 15 minutes, and add water if needed. After 2 hours, remove meat to serving platter and cover.
Gravy: Measure remaining liquid and add enough water to make 1 1/2 cups. (You can use potato water for this.) Return liquid to pan and bring to slow boil. Put 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup water in a jar or gravy shaker and shake until all lumps are gone. Slowly add flour/water mixture to liquid in frying pan, stirring constantly. Return to a slow boil and continue cooking for 2–3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with meat and mashed potatoes.
by jphilo | Mar 6, 2013 | Recipes
Between yesterday’s top ten list and today’s recipe, it feels like Downton Abbey Week along our gravel road. Today’s recipe comes compliments of Downton Abbey Cooks, the brainchild of food historian Pamela Foster. You can find Foster’s original recipe, along with many other Edwardian England dishes, in her post about guilt-free scones.
I spotted the recipe while sitting under the dryer and reading the paper at the hair dresser’s. It sounded so good, I came home and created my own dairy-free version. The scones were an immediate winner, receiving the coveted Hiram seal of approval. They were light, crispy, and flavorful. They will be a staple at our house, even though we don’t have a kitchen maid to sift the flour 3 times!
Downton Abbey Dairy-Free Scones
1 cup unnbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons frozen lard
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup dried fruit (I used dried cranberries)
Heat oven to 450°. Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder. Sift three times. (Or have Daisy the kitchen maid do that part.) Add sugar and mix in well. Grate frozen lard (another job for Daisy) and add to dry ingredients. Lightly cut in by hand until mixture has the consistency of sand. Stir in dried fruit. Add almond milk, a tablespoon at a time, mixing dough with a fork after each addition. Stop when dough holds together, but before it gets sticky.
Kneed dough gently a few times. Do not overwork! Form dough into a circle and place on a cookie sheet or heated baking stone. Press dough until it’s a circle 1/3 inch thick. With a knife, cut into 8 wedges.* Separate them slightly. Bake for 5–7 minutes.
by jphilo | Feb 27, 2013 | Recipes
Just after I perfected a new recipe for dairy-free chocolate chip cookies, Lent came along–as did my choice to forgo chocolate until Easter. Talk about bad timing! Then again, the chocolate cravings turn my thoughts back to Lent and Christ’s ultimate sacrifice several times a week. So my decision functioning as it should. At least in that department.
But not so well in the there’s-a-potluck-over-the-weekend-and-you-need-to-make-something-you-can-eat-and-other-people-will-like department. So http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/product/vegan-buttery-sticks/ Next time I make them, I plan to toast the coconut to enhance flavor and texture, too.
Coconut Cookies–Dairy Free Variety
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose)
2 cups oatmeal
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast the pecans in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Remove them from the oven and cool.
Cream sugar, butter and eggs until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, flour, soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add oatmeal, coconut, and nuts. Stir well after each ingredient is added.
Drop dough by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8 – 12 cookies, depending on how chewy you like them. Makes about 4 – 5 dozen.
PS–Hiram’s mom threw the cookie jar on her potter’s wheel back in the 1980s. She made it from two kinds of clay she dug from a riverbank in Alaska. Beautiful, don’t you agree?
by jphilo | Feb 20, 2013 | Recipes
This recipe is the result of a dilemma last week. I was hosting book club and wanted to serve a dessert that met the needs of the gluten-free and dairy-free among us and wasn’t too calorie laden. Since the fridge was full of apples, I decided on an oatmeal-based apple crisp. Here’s the recipe, which received the coveted Hiram seal of approval, though he suggests a new name: Granola Apple Crisp.
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Apple Crisp
or
Granola Apple Crisp
6–8 good baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (I used a mixture of Granny Smiths, Golden Delicious, and Honey Crisps)
1 3/4 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine, at room temperature (check the label until you find one that’s dairy-free)
Preheat oven to 375°. Layer apple slices in the bottom of a 9 x 9 baking dish or 2 quart casserole dish.
Put 1 cup of oatmeal in blender and process until it’s the consistency of whole wheat flour. Put all dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Cut in margarine until mixture is lumpy and sticky. Sprinkle evenly over apples.
Bake for 45 minutes or until juices are bubbling and the apples are cooked and soft. If the topping is getting too dark, place a piece of foil loosely over it until fruit is thoroughly baked.
