Gluten Free Pancakes!

When it comes to breakfast on the weekends I tend to stick with a large cup of coffee and maybe a little fruit. But every once and a while I get a craving for something more, something soft and fluffy covered in melted butter and gooey syrup: pancakes!!!

Growing up, my mom ALWAYS made us french toast...literally, the BEST french toast on the planet. We'd have it for breakfast on the weekends and every once and a while for dessert (Yes, french toast for dessert. Try it. You won't be disappointed.) In any case, french toast was so prevalent that having pancakes for breakfast was a treat. Naturally, this treat was removed from my diet with the onset of Celiac but all that changed last weekend.

I was up and at it extra early and veryyyy hungry. I've had Bob's Red Mill g-free all purpose baking flour in my Cabinet so it was time to put it to use again. In the process of cooking I realized I was out of syrup so I sent my boyfriend running to the store because what are pancakes without sweet yummy syrup! End result: peer bliss!!!

 Recipe:
1 1/3 cups gfree all purpose baking flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
1) Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and oil. With the whisk, stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until smooth.
2) Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Spoon about 1/3 cup pancake batter onto pan. Flip when bubbly and edges are slightly dry.
3) Cover in butter and gfree maple syrup, as desired (of course.)

Mac and Cheese!!!

Aside from buttered noodles covered in parm,  one of my fave dishes B.C. (before celiac) was Mac and cheese. MMMM mmmm!! I loved me some stringy, gooey, cheesy macaroni! It didn't take me long to find my go-to noodle substitute so I'm really not sure why it has taken me this long to make some again. The good news: I haven't lost my mac & cheese making touch! This dish might have been my best Mac ever. In addition to boatloads of cheese, I added sausage and pepperoni to give the meal some substance. Man, was it good!! Enough talking - get in the kitchen and make this!!

Recipe:
8 oz gluten free elbow noodles
10 slices of small pepperoni, I used the ones for topping pizzas
2 sausage links, casings removed 
1 cup Velveeta cheese, cubed
1/3 cup shredded cheese, I used a nacho blend but anything works great
2 oz cream cheese
dash of milk

Directions:
1) Cook pasta according to package.
2) While pasta is cooking, heat frying pan over medium high heat and cook sausage, breaking it into little bits. One almost fully cooked, toss in pepperoni to heat it through. 
3) Once pasta is complete, drain and rinse then place back in the saucepan it was cooked in. Toss in Velveeta and cream cheese, mixing until fully melted. If the cheese is too thick, add a dash of milk to loosen a bit. Add shredded cheese and meat then stir until fully combined. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Bistango - Gluten Free Italian Restaurant Review

Dinning out these days is always a gamble. I've discovered that no matter how detailed I am when explaining Celiac Disease to a waiter, they never quite understand. More often than not, I end up not feeling well after my meal. As a result, I've done my best to cut back on eating out but lets be serious... living in New York, it's unavoidable. It's also one of the greatest things about this city- any kind of food you want at any hour. Is amazing!! 

Thanks to some research by my boyfriend, I've found one of my new go-to spots: Bistango! It's located in Murray Hill, not too far from my office. The restaurant offers regular and gluten free fare. Before even ordering drinks (Green's g-free beer is what we went with), the waiter asked if either of us had any food allergies. It was very happy because I knew I was in good hands. On top of being thrilled that I'd be able to enjoy some of my Italian favorites, the service and attention to detail by the server was great.  

That evening, my boyfriend and I ordered Bistango's amazing burrata mozzarella with prosciutto and roasted red pepper. It was so creamy and delicious and went great with the g-free bread and garlic olive oil they served. For our main courses, we both ordered different g-free pasta dishes so I had a chance to try a few options. I order the short-rib bolognese (obvii) and Brad ordered sausage and pepper with spinach. Both of them were out of this world!! I, of course, topped mine with tons of fresh parm so it was even better. ;)

I honestly didn't think things could get any better, then the dessert menu came. Almost all of their desserts are g-free. I pretty much squealed and I read RED VELVET CAKE!!! Yes, I said it... gluten free red velvet!! It was soooooooo moist and delicious. I literally inhaled it. Poor Brad barely got three bites. 

We've been back several times since and have always enjoyed our meal. I give you my word that this will be one of your favorite gluten free spots too!

Burrata Mozzarella with Prosciutto and Roasted Red Peppers

G-Free Bread with Garlic Olive Oil

G-Free Penne with Short-Rib Bolognese

G-Free Red Velvet Cake!

Green's G-Free Beer

Quinoa with Red Peper and Onion

Since this summer has been sweltering hot cooking at my apartment (with no AC) has been out of the question! Thankfully, my lovely boyfriend has central air so I've spent a very large chunk of my time over there. :) One thing that an apartment shared by three guys lacks is proper kitchen gear so many nights I do my best to whip up something easy.

Tonight was no problem at all! A few nights ago, I made our FAVORITE salad so I had left over red peppers and onions. I tossed those in a pan with some oil and cooked until they were tender. Meanwhile, I boiled quinoa, which has a two to one water ratio. Once finished, I tossed the peppers and onions in with the quinoa then topped it with some salt, black pepper and Parmesan. Boom! That's one fast meal.

Tuscan Turkey Chili

Although a hearty bowl of chili is crowd favorite in colder months, once in a while I just get a craving that I can shack, regardless of the season. This week, I wanted something strong in protein with veggies but really wanted to avoid my normal go-to starch of choice: pasta a la meat sauce. After a few (or many) minutes surfing pinterest, chili came to mind. My mouth was immediately watering!

It's pretty much the perfect meal: heavy on meat and beans and has a great blend of veggies. Plus, you really don't need to have it with anything else. To lighten the dish a bit and keep bikini ready, I took a tuscan twist rather than your average beef and kidney bean flavor. It was delish!

Recipe:
1 tablespoon olive Oil
2 onion, chopped
2 bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 can tomato paste, 6 oz. 
1/4 cup chili powder 
2 teaspoon cumin 
2 15 oz cans white beans
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook onions, peppers, and garlic and cook until soft.
2) Add turkey and cook until browned.  Add Tomato paste, chili powder, and cumin and cook, stirring for 2 min. Finally, add beans, tomatoes and their juices,  salt and pepper.  Simmer until thickened, 20 min.

Martha Stewart's One Pot Pasta!

If you've been on Pinterest anytime in the last few months you've probably seen this recipe. I mean, come on... A full homemade pasta dish in one pan? You can't be serious. I was dying to try it but had my concerns with how it would turn out with gluten free corn noodles. I figured "what's the worst that can happen?"  It's sad to say this but I was thoroughly disappointed. I completely forgot how starchy corn noodles are. Now that I'm always cooking g-free I rinse my noodles in scalding hot water after cooking. This recipe does not allow for that.

When I was finished, I ended up with a gel-like, starchy, tomato-y substance. Gross! I promise to try this again after doing some research on the best g-free option. In the meantime, I would encourage you to try with regular wheat noodles! I can't imagine Martha would steer general public wrong.

Recipe:
12 oz linguine pasta
1 15oz can of diced tomatoes with liquid
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions: 
1) Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.
2) Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated.
3) Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with parmesan cheese.

Despite my messy outcome, I loved putting this meal together. It came together so beautifully that took step-by-step pics. (Well, beautifully until the end.) 

 

The final product - a sad mess!

Ragu Bolognese

When I think of comfort food pasta is always the first thing that comes to mind. For the last several years I've always tossed together any ground meat I had with some store bought sauce and was happy. But last week, all of that changed! There is nothing better than a meaty, bacony, thick bolognese sauce to warm every inch of your stomach. I could shovel this sauce in my mouth, it's so good! I can honestly say, this recipe is 100% worth the 2 and 1/2 hours it takes to cook. Enough with the words... read this recipe and get in the kitchen!!

Recipe:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup butter
1 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced celery
1/4 cup minced carrot
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped pancetta bacon
1/2 cup milk
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups beef broth, gluten free

Directions:
Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and carrots until soft. Add veal, pork, beef and pancetta, and cook until evenly brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Pour in milk, and cook until liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. If you'd prefer, you can use 2 and 1/2 pounds of meatloaf mix instead. Once all meat is added, stir in tomato sauce and beef broth. Cover, and simmer 2 1/2 hours.