Monthly Archives: December 2014

Simple Pleasures: Grilled Cheese

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“No, nothing flashed.”

Over the holiday I was fortunate to survive three different episodes of what the doctor diagnosed as heart failure due to anaphylaxis, and I’m sorry to share that, at none of those times, did my life flash before my eyes.

I have always been curious as to what exactly would flash: my entire life? all the good memories? all the bad? the childhood ones I can no longer remember? my most recent days? The movies and songs talk about your whole life being seen, but honestly there’s not that much time between when you first feel that first tightness and your breathing stops. How could your whole life possibly flash?

In my case, my brain seemed most preoccupied with the fact that I wasn’t getting any more air into my lungs, and the only conscious thought I remember having is concern for my children if I actually died on Christmas day of all days. It would be bad enough for them to lose me, but to ruin the rest of their Christmases to come just seemed to add insult to injury.

Fortunately, I am alive and well, and I’m wondering if the flashing of one’s life may actually be all the reflection you tend to have after almost dying. Things I’ve not thought about in years have come to the surface, and I find myself thinking about whether there is anything I need to consider doing before I do die.

One of the things I did was to scribble thoughts in reaction to recent events in my life and to send them off to everyone I know, telling them how much they mean to me and how much I appreciate them. The other thing I did was to finally make a vegan grilled cheese sandwich.

Now, this may strike folks as slightly absurd, but when I developed my dairy allergy, I lost out on one of the simple pleasures in life: a hot, gooey, grilled cheese sandwich, the type mom used to make for you when you were little and had had a bad day. Because I’ve not had much fondness for the “fake” cheeses, I’ve opted to forego having grilled cheese sandwiches. After recent events, though, I decided that life is to short to deprive myself of the simply things one can enjoy.

So, I adapted a recipe from Cooking Light which they created to make a lower fat, less calorie grilled cheese sandwich, though, of course, using all “real” dairy ingredients, and I have to tell you: Life is worth living! *grin* It was gooey and creamy and delicious, and I was very happy at lunch today.

So, I invite you to indulge as well, and below the recipe, I’ll share the thoughts I shared with the people in my life, because although it’s not a recipe for a meal, I’m thinking it’s a good recipe these days for life. (Hopefully folks will be able to open it. I’ll add it under my “thoughts” section, too, just in case….) Happy New Year!

Gluten Free Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Choose your favorite gluten free bread (I used Udi’s Soft and Hearty Whole Grain bread). In a bowl mix 2 tbsp of vegan cream cheese with 1 tbsp vegannaise and 2 tbsp Daiya shredded mozzarella. Chop up baby spinach and fresh tomato (strain the juice out) and mix into the cheese mixture. Spread the mixture onto one of your slices of bread and top with the other. In a shallow fry pan which has a lid, put 1/2 tsp of olive oil, and set your sandwich into the pan. Cover with the lid and cook over the lowest heat setting until the first side is golden brown and the cheese is starting to melt. Flip the sandwich (if needed add another 1/2 tsp of olive oil for the second side). When the second side is golden brown, move the sandwich to a plate and let is cool for a few moments before indulging.

Today Is the Day

Holiday Traditions: Revamping Candy Cane Cookies

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When life hands you lemons, make cookies.

Last week was difficult for our family. We attended our second funeral in three weeks. This time it was a classmate of my daughter’s whom we’ve known since Kindergarten and who just graduated with my daughter in June from high school. It was heartbreaking because she was a friend and so young, but it also brought out other emotions in my daughter who was hit two months ago today by a car and survived.

As I’ve wrestled with my own emotions, I wondered, “What do you do when the lemons you’re being handed are just too tart for making lemonade?” There isn’t enough sweetener in the world to turn such an event into anything other than what it is — a tragedy.

In the midst of our sad week, one of my sister-in-laws emailed me, asking about cookies which I used to make years ago — peppermint candy cane cookies. I hadn’t made them in a long time because I had found that substituting for the powdered sugar and cutting back on the butter really did affect the cookies.

This week, however, I decided that sometimes you just have to relax the standards a bit, because when people say, “Life is short,” it may be shorter than we anticipate. So, I adapted the recipe to be dairy and gluten free but still with sugar and fat. My thinking now is that sometimes we are given lemons, not so we can learn how to make lemonade when life is tough, but so we will be reminded to stop and make cookies with our children.

Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar*

1 1/4 cup Earth Balance soy and dairy free butter**

1 egg at room temperature

1 tsp peppermint extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups gluten free flour blend (use a brown rice version like King Arthur’s or Authentic Foods)

3/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 tsp salt

red gel food color

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line flat cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a mixer, mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, and the peppermint and vanilla extracts, beating just until well mixed and creamy.

3. Mix the gluten free flour blend and the sorghum flour and salt. Add to the wet mixture and mix just until well blended.

4. Divide the dough in half and add a drop or two of the red gel food color to one of the halves.

5. To make the cookies, roll one tsp of each color, white and red, into straight strands. Then twist the two strands together and curve the top to look like a candy cane.

6. Place the cookies on the lined cookie sheets with enough room for some spreading, and bake for 8 to 12 minutes until they are puffed and beginning to harden. (Time will vary depending on your oven and the size of the cookies, which inevitably will get bigger as your children continue to make the cookies!)

7. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before removing them to the wire cooling rack to completely cool.

8. Store cookies in a container lined with waxed or parchment paper or a paper towel.

* If you want to avoid using sugar, you can make your own powdered sugar out of Truvia or coconut sugar. You simply process either in a food processor until it’s powdery like powdered sugar and then substitute your version into the recipe. I have found, though, that this does affect the taste and texture of these cookies, though.

** You can cut the butter in half for this recipe if you really do need to watch your fat intake. The cookies just won’t be as buttery or puffed.

 

 

Menu Suggestion: Tenderloin Dinner

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“When I grow up, I’m only going to do the things I like to do.”

My son has lived a charmed life so far. In addition to two older sisters doting upon him and a mother and a father who find it difficult to resist the impish grin he inherited from his dad, he has a fun-loving nature which usually protects him from any drudgery that comes his way. This Autumn, though, he’s been a bit disgruntled by a change in his comfortable life.

With his oldest sister going off to college, he no longer can stay at home while my husband and I are attending meetings and carpooling our other daughter to various activities. The other day, while he was being taken against his will, to a meeting of mine, he declared that he was only going to do things which he liked when he grew up.

Being the terrible parent that I am, I laughed, and my confused son wanted to know what was so funny. I told him that unfortunately for him, life is very much made up of activities which people don’t often like to do but simply must. He didn’t understand, so I asked him how he’d feel if I gave up doing things I didn’t like as much as other activities such as playing 20 questions with him on car rides or reading the same book to him over and over again or doing his laundry or washing his dishes three meals a day every single day.

It’s been a couple of days now, and my son still hasn’t answered my question. *laugh* I’m thinking he didn’t quite like the picture I had painted for him!

I was reminded of this conversation last night when I received an email: “Dear Paula,” it said. “I hate to cook, and I have to host Christmas dinner. Do you have any suggestions for something easy which will still impress my family?”

The fact is that many people don’t like to cook, and holidays can be stressful if suddenly you’re the one selected to host. Fortunately there are many easy menu suggestions, and I’ll share what I shared in my email:

If you’re hosting a large gathering, don’t want to do a lot of work, and want something which will taste good no matter how poor a cook you may be, you can’t go wrong with a tenderloin. It’s a very tender meat, needing very hands-off cooking, and can withstand any overcooking you might do. Plus you have choices: beef, pork, or turkey, and if you make a special sauce to spoon over it, people will think you’ve slaved away when in reality you’ve done very little.

Easy Holiday Dinner Menu:

1. The tenderloin: Choose which type you prefer, mix together some dried herbs of your choosing with a tiny bit of olive oil and rub all over the tenderloin. Put the tenderloin into a pan which just fits the meat, cover with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes per pound. Most packages will suggest you use a preheated 400 or 425 degree oven, but you can also cook the meats at 350 or 375 degrees for a slower roasting time. When it’s done, you can simply turn off your oven, and let the meat sit in the oven until you’re ready to serve it.

2. The sauce: You can find all sorts of sauce recipes for tenderloin online, but one I always get rave reviews for is an artichoke cream sauce which I make: Drain a 14 ounce container of artichoke bottoms (can be found at the grocery store next to artichoke hearts), keeping the liquid. Mix the liquid with enough “milk” to make 2 cups. (I usually use soy or flax, but any will do.) Puree the artichoke bottoms in a food processor with 1/4 cup dry or cooking white wine (if you don’t want to use the alcohol, just use 1/4 cup of water or “milk”). In a large shallow pan, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup flour (I usually use a gluten free oat flour, but any will do), whisking well. Slowly pour the artichoke liquid/milk mixture into the rue, whisking well to combine the liquid with the flour mixture. Keep stirring, and let the mixture thicken, usually just a few minutes will do it. Add 1/8 tsp of black pepper and 1/4 tsp of dried thyme. Mix in the pureed artichoke bottoms until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Serve in a pretty dish with a ladle or in a gravy boat. Note: This can be made ahead of time and then just reheated before use. 

3. The veggie side dish: Choose any frozen vegetable you like, but one my children love is green beans. Put the frozen veggies into a large shallow pan with 1/2 cup or more of frozen diced onions. Add dried herbs of your choosing and black pepper to taste. Sprinkle a bit of olive oil, maybe a tsp or two, and simply saute the frozen veggies over low heat until they are cooked through. Starting with frozen veggies and cooking them over low heat means you don’t have to do more than occasionally stir the veggies, and if you forget about them, and overcook them a little, they still taste good, because the slow cooking allows the flavors to meld more.

4. The starchy side dish: You can’t go wrong with rice, ever. It doesn’t require a lot from you, and you can jazz it up very easily. I have a rice cooker which makes things even easier, but even if you have to make the rice in a pot on a stop, it’s still very hands-off: Purchase an uncooked rice medley. I like a Trader Joe’s mix which is long grain brown rice, black barley, and daikon seeds, but any will do. Cook the rice according to instructions (which is usually to just let it simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally) but instead of water use a low sodium, fat free vegetable or chicken broth, and add finely chopped veggies like carrots, zucchini, broccoli, peppers, or squash. When the rice cooks, the flavors of the broth and veggies, as well as the pretty colors, will make for a special side dish which required very little work.

5. The dessert: If you want something which seems fancy and is very pretty, but also quite easy, an upside down pineapple cake is the way to go. You can prepare this ahead of time.

At your grocery store, pick-up a fresh, peeled, cored pineapple. My store usually has it in a clear 18 oz container in the fruit section. Remove the core, and slice the pineapple into eight slices (they’ll be about 1/2 inch thick). Decide what you want for your cake: circles, half circles, or 1/4 fans. (I usually cut the circles into the 1/4 fans, because I think it’s prettier that way.)

In a shallow, large pan, melt 1/4 cup “butter” (I use Earth Balance soy-free, vegan butter) with 1/4 cup Agave. Add the pineapples and cook for 5 minutes, flipping them after about 2 1/2 minutes. Remove the pineapple slices, putting onto the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Cook the butter mixture another minute until it’s thickened, and then evenly pour it over the pineapple slices.

Mix 2 cups of a brown rice gluten free flour blend like Authentic Foods or King Arthur with 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/tsp cardamom. Set aside.

Mix 1 cup Toffuti sour cream with 1/2 cup safflower oil, 2 eggs, and 2/3 cup Agave.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and quickly mix them together just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Carefully spread the batter over the pineapples. If the batter doesn’t go completely to the edges, don’t worry, it’ll spread when cooking.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. The cake will be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. When you take the cake out of the oven, you can cool it on a wire cooling rack and then flip it or you can flip it immediately and then let it cool on a wire rack. Either way, though, be sure to flip it onto a pretty platter which has a rim for catching any of the syrup. If a pineapple is stuck on the bottom of the pan, just pull it off and insert it back into its missing space.

When you serve the cake, you can serve it with whipped cream or ice cream or just plain, by itself.

 

Holiday Traditions: Revamping Gingerbread

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“Your daughter made the entire class cry.”

My oldest was in Kindergarten when I received a phone call from her teacher who was concerned about the fallout of my daughter having caused distress to all her little classmates.

The evening before we had spoken with our children, only the two daughters at the time, about Saint Nicholas, about the real person who had cared deeply for the poor children of his country at the time, and how he had died but that his spirit lived on in the modern version of Santa Claus.  Apparently, the next day, when my daughter’s classmates were talking about Santa Claus, her little truthful autistic self felt compelled to let her classmates know that Saint Nicholas was dead,which her classmates interpreted as Santa Claus having just died and that there’d be no Christmas that year.

We had to have a nice long chat with our daughter about what exactly one can share with other people and exactly how one should go about sharing even if “it’s the truth” as she kept insisting.

What I remember clearly from the incident, though, was the surprise of the teacher when we explained that the issue arose because we didn’t actually encourage a belief in a current active Santa Claus, that we wanted our children to learn compassion and care for people around them by understanding what the real Saint Nicholas did because of his faith in God and that our children and we, too, could care for the people around us and take care of the poor because of our faith.

At the time, she seemed to think that we were somehow depriving our children of “imagination” as she put it. We argued that our children had plenty of that without any extra help from Santa Claus and that while we didn’t push a belief in Santa Claus, our children did believe in the Tooth Fairy and Leprechauns so they weren’t completely without a fairy world.

I doubt we convinced her, though, and I find that the same thing happens when it comes to food traditions for the holiday. Too often people tell me that they don’t want to try my holiday goodies because “it won’t be the same”. My argument is that it’s not supposed to be the same. Traditions are wonderful, and our family has boatloads of them, but change is good, too, and sometimes, something new can be even better than the original tradition, especially if it means that you can include the members of your family who otherwise would have to miss out on the food tradition because of their food allergies or restrictions.

One of the holiday food traditions in the States is the making of gingerbread. Last year, I shared how we had revamped a roll-out ginger cookie recipe. This year, I’m going to share a gingerbread recipe. We made this for my in-laws over Thanksgiving, and we tweaked it a bit to make it even better for Christmas.

Upside Down Pear Gingerbread

Ingredients:

2  15 ounce cans pears in 100% pear juice

1 1/4 cup sorghum flour

1 1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp ground ginger powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup warmed pear juice from the canned pears

1/2 cup coconut sugar or regular sugar

1 cup date molasses or regular molasses

1/2 cup vegan soy free butter

2 beaten eggs

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Grease the bottom of a glass pan. You can use vegan butter or shortening or a plant based oil of your choosing. You can use a 9 x 9 x 2 square pan or an 11 x 8 x 2 rectangular pan. Which type of pan you choose will slightly affect the baking time and how thick your gingerbread is.

3. Drain the pears from their cans, reserving the liquid for use as part of the wet ingredients.

4. Slice the pear halves into thin strips and arrange them on the bottom of your chosen pan. They will need to overlap with one another to create a nice thick layer of pears.

5. Whisk together the sorghum flour, cornstarch, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.

6. Warm a cup of the leftover pear juice in the microwave until the juice is boiling. Microwaves may vary, but mine usually just needs about 45 seconds to a minute.

7. To the boiling pear juice add the sugar, molasses, and butter. Stir until everything is dissolved and well combined.

8. Mix together the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients with the beaten eggs, just until everything is combined and the dry ingredients are wet.

9. Carefully spread the gingerbread batter evenly over the pears and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Depending on which size pan you use and whether it’s a glass pan or aluminum will affect the baking time, so set your time for 30 minutes and check from there. I make mine in an 11 x 8 x 2 glass pan which takes about 40 minutes. A 9 x 9 x 2 will probably take closer to 50 minutes. Aluminum pans may cook more quickly.

10. When the gingerbread is done, you can serve it as is, which is what I did for my in-laws and cut out pieces with the pears on the bottom, or if you want to do what I did for a party I hosted last week, you can carefully turn the pan onto a platter and serve the cake with the pear-side up which is very pretty.

 

The Secret Is In The Small Things

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“I don’t know how you do it all. What’s your secret?”

After the Autumn I just had with my daughter’s accident, too many friends and family members wrestling with cancer, loved ones being in the hospital, and a friend’s daughter dying at too young an age, I was more than ready for the holiday brunch I hosted this past week where 30 of the loveliest ladies I know gathered together to simply enjoy one another’s company.

The day after the brunch, a friend sent me an email, thanking me for a delightful time, and ending with, “I don’t know how you do it all. What’s your secret?”

My first thought was that there’s no secret, but as I pondered a bit more, it occurred to me that maybe it was a secret — a secret because sometimes folks don’t actually realize that it’s the little things I do which make all the difference.

The fact is that I don’t actually like to work very hard when it comes to cooking, or really anything else for that matter. *grin* I like to be efficient at all that I do, and I like to have the time to focus on what matters most — like my family and my friends. So, when it comes to hosting a delightful brunch or Thanksgiving or a birthday party or a Christmas celebration, I rely on a few simple, not so time-consuming “secrets”.

I’ll share them with you now so you can think about them for the wonderful holiday gatherings you’ll be hosting.

Secret #1: When you have a choice about where to invest your time, it’s okay to choose the easier option:  For example, for Thanksgiving, I used frozen vegetables, potatoes, and sweet potatoes for the side dishes which saved me all the time I would have put into washing, peeling, chopping, and prepping the fresh versions.

Frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as the fresh versions; they’re usually cheaper; they’re ready when you need them without worry of spoiling; and they literally can save you hours of work in the end. Within minutes I was mashing sweet potatoes and potatoes for a layered two potato casserole, and it only took a couple of seconds to coat frozen vegetables with some olive oil and pop them into the oven to roast to perfection.

The same holds true for frozen fruit. A few weeks ago I needed to make a couple of peach cobblers, and the frozen peach slices in my freezer saved me the time it would have took for me to wash, core, and slice the peaches.

Secret #2:  Focus on the garnishes instead of the main ingredient: Within minutes, you can make any dish exceptional.

For my two potato casserole, I didn’t do anything special to the potatoes themselves, simply mashing them with traditional (well, allergy friendly versions) ingredients. What I did do, though, was to take five minutes to caramelize leeks which I arranged on top of the potatoes, which gave the casserole a pleasing appearance, added a slightly different flavor, and provided a textural contrast to the smooth potatoes. In the end, it seemed like I’d put a lot of effort into the dish when I hadn’t, and I received enthusiastic approvals of the potatoes.

For vegetables, in just a couple of minutes I often make a topping in my food processor, mixing gluten free bread slices with fresh herbs and a tiny drizzle of olive oil, which I arranged prettily over the roasted veggies. When the veggies are warmed in the oven, the crispy, browned topping adds a delightful flavor combination and provides a nice crunch to the vegetables. People will think you went through a lot of effort because you homemade bread crumbs, when in reality you used very little effort to make a tastier topping than if you had used store-bought bread crumbs.

A garnish doesn’t even have to take as much time as caramelizing leeks or making homemade bread crumbs. Sometimes for company, I’ll pull out frozen fruit, thaw them for a few minutes, and chop fresh mint leaves to throw on top. Suddenly, something ordinary becomes something exotic and tasty.

Other times, I’ll make a soup where I’ll puree frozen squash or carrots or broccoli or potatoes with broth to make a cream soup, but I’ll serve it with some crushed croutons, shredded cheese, chopped turkey bacon and/or sliced chives. Suddenly, ordinary soup becomes something special.

Secret #3: You can make anything special by keeping spices, herbs, oils, vinegars, and flavoring handy in the pantry: For special occasions I always make special drinks out of ordinary products. For example, if you purchase apple cider or apple juice at the store, but put it into your crock pot with sticks of cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, you’ll have a festive drink for any occasion.

Similarly, if you have guests over, transform your ordinary instant hot chocolate mix into something extraordinary by adding a 1/4 tsp of vanilla or peppermint or orange or maple or coconut extract. For extra-special occasions, I also keep peppermint and chocolate sticks in the pantry which I give to the children to stir their hot chocolate with. This adds some fun as well as extra flavor.

Also, adding herbs and spices to your cooking enhances the flavors for your guests even when you’re making something quite ordinary. I often serve guests what my children call “leftover” soup. I take whatever leftovers I have in the fridge, throw them into a crock pot with some vegetable or chicken broth, and let it cook for hours until everything is creamy and homey-tasting. This alone is delicious, but for company, I make up a little compote of flavors like dried thyme, black pepper and onion powder or cumin, paprika, and garlic which I mix into the soup. This elevates the taste of the soup to a different level.

You can do the same for vegetables and fruits. Sauteed or roasted or microwaved veggies become special when you drizzle them with a little bit of avocado or truffle or pumpkin seed oil as opposed to your regular olive oil. Strawberries become a delicious dessert when you drizzle them with a little bit of chocolate balsamic vinegar, not to mention that folks feel like they’re having something different and unique, even though it’s still strawberries.

Chicken or turkey or meats or fish are transformed when you brush them with a quick freshly made marinade. Choose an oil whether it’s olive oil or avocado or safflower or any other good fat oil and whisk in a couple of tbsp of a vinegar like balsamic or sherry or white wine, a tsp of a fancy mustard like garlic or honey dijon, some fresh herbs, minced garlic, and black pepper. Marinate your chicken or fish or meat for at least half an hour in the fridge. Cook as you desire whether it’s grilled or sauteed or oven-baked.

Or make a special rub: Make a dry rub of herbs and seasonings of your choice or a wet rub of herbs and seasonings with olive oil and rub it over your meat or fish or chicken before cooking.

Whether you use a marinade or a rub, the few minutes it takes will enhance the flavor of your entree with very little work.

Secret #4: You can enhance store-bought items with less time consuming homemade items: For example, I often will just purchase store-made bread or rolls, but to make them special, I’ll make a roasted-herb butter to go with it. Simply purchase some already peeled garlic, roast it in the oven at 500 degrees for about ten to fifteen minutes, stirring every five minutes, and puree in your food processor with your choice of fresh herbs. Keep the mixture in your fridge until you need it, and mix it with your choice of butter. (I use the soy and dairy free Earth Balance butter, and it always comes out delicious.)

For veggies, I’ll throw rinsed and drained canned white cannelloni beans into the food processor with some spinach, herbs, garlic, and little bit of olive oil to create a delicious dip. Or I’ll mix a drained can of artichoke hearts with some tofu cream cheese, herbs, onions, garlic, and vegan parmesan cheese in the food processor and warm it in the oven.

For chips, I’ll buy an assortment of sweet potato, brown rice, and corn tortilla chips but I’ll make a quick homemade salsa in the food processor. Maybe mix some tomatoes, onions, garlic, frozen peach slices and herbs. Or mix tomatoes, onions, garlic, avocado, and hot sauce.

By investing only a few minutes into a dip or a spread or a salsa, folks will think you’ve gone to some effort when in fact you’ve purchased most of the items from the store and your food processor did the rest of the work.

Secret #5: Sometimes it’s the presentation, not the food: Often I’ll use store-bought products but put them out on a special platter. So, for example, store-bought pudding which is scooped into little crystal dishes with a dollop of whipped cream is special.

Store-bought cookies arranged by shape on a holiday platter is more appealing to the eye and therefore to the stomach than simply keeping them in their box or putting them on a regular kitchen plate.

Often I’ll purchase hummus from the store, but to serve it for company, I’ll scoop it into a pretty bowl and throw a few chopped green onions on top. Or for a store-bought fruit dip, I’ll arrange a few curls of orange peel around a pretty bowl.

When things look pretty and are eye-appealing, people feel differently about the food, even if you didn’t actually prepare it yourself.