Perfect Pork Chop

We have been eating a lot of pork dishes lately, and I decided to experiment with different kind of pork chop recipes. I mixed 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning into 2 tablespoons of gluten free flour. Sprinkle salf & pepper on the pork chops and rub the flour mixture. Pan fry the pork chops until done... about 12 minutes. Make sure using low to medium heat so that you don't burn the pork chop. This goes really well with the rosemary oven roasted potatoes. Just add 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary into 2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss large diced potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until done. We had this dish with some green beans and it was a winner... old bay seasoning add an interesting taste to the pork.

Indian tonight... Curried Vegetables with Tomatoes

This Indian dish is very easy and yummy! You can get most of these spices at a regular grocery store, except for garam masala. You can get garam masala at a local Indian grocery store. I bought my spices at Patel Brothers on Sawmill Road. It's a fairly large Indian grocery store and they seem to have everything. 

• 1 can(14oz) diced tomatoes 
• 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 1 bunch cauliflower, chopped
• 1/2 can(14oz) sweet peas
• 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

1. In a large skillet, sautee the onions and potatoes in olive oil (or butter) for about 3 minutes. Add the tomato and all the spices. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes. 

2. Add cauliflower and reduce the heat to medium. (Add more oil or a little bit of water if needed.) Stirring frequently for another 5 to 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the lemon juice and fresh chopped cilantro for garnish. Serve over steamed basmati rice.

 

GF Vegetarian Enchilada and Baked Corn Chips

If you like chicken enchilada, you can easily substitute the chicken to tofu. This enchilada came out very tasty and very light... much lighter than the meat enchilada recipes. More talk on the chicken later, but unless you can buy all-grass-fed chicken (I'm not even sure if there are such things in Ohio), chickens are VERY high in Omega-6, unfortunately.  When buying tofu, make sure you are buying made-in-Japan tofu or it says, "Magnesium Chloride" on the label.
Since I bought way too many corn tortillas, (they come in large quantities) I decided to just bake the rest of tortillas and sprinkle salt... home made chips & salsa!


Gluten Free Vegetarian Enchilada

• • 15 1/4 oz Whole Kernel Corn
• • 1 tbsp Butter

• • 1/2 large Green Bell Pepper
• • 1 medium Red Bell Pepper
• • 1/3 medium White Onion
• • 1 1/2 cups Tofu (Made in Japan or Magnesium Chloride on label)
• • 4 to 6 White Corn Tortillas
• • 1/2 cup Finely Shredded Colby Cheese
• • 1 cup Black Beans
• • 1 cup Enchilada Sauce
• • 3 Black Pearl Medium Pitted Ripe Olives
• • 2 tsp Taco Seasoning
• • 1 tbsp Pure Olive Oil
• • 1 cup Canned Diced Tomatoes, not drained

1. Saute sliced onions & bell peppers in large skillet in olive oil and taco seasoning. When the veggies are almost soft add tofu, and canned tomatoes (include juice). Cook until tofu has absorbed remaining liquid (make sure and scrape bottom of pan for the yummy bits). 2. In loaf pan layer two corn torillas, half of black beans, half of corn, half of tofu/veggie mixture, and top with half of almost half of enchilada suace. Repeat those layers. Add cheese and sliced black olives. You have about 2-3 tbsp of enchilada sauce left, pour over top.
3. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, covered, or until contents are bubbly are bubbly around the melted cheese. Then remove the lid, turn heat up to 450 and bake for additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is as brown as you would like it.
Remove and let sit for 10 minutes.

Japanese Style Swordfish Dinner & Cheese Cake

Happy belated Valentine's Day! 
I had never been so excited about dining "in" for the Valentine's Dinner. Because we were living with someone last year, we were always looking for excuses to go out of the house. So this is really a treat for us to be able to stay home and celebrate it together... on our own!
Since swordfish is Jeff's absolute favorite fish, I decided to make some Japanese style swordfish dinner. For the dessert, I made a very light flavored, gluten free (of course) cheese cake. This cake is something my mom used to make when I was little. It's very easy and light, low sugar dessert option.


Japanese Style Swordfish with Dikon Radish

• 2 swordfish stakes
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Mirin
• 2 tablespoons rice wine
• 3 tablespoons potato starch (Katakuriko)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 green onions, chopped
• grated daikon radish for garnish

1. In a glass dish, combine the garlic, GF soy sauce, mirin, and rice wine. Mix just to blend. Place swordfish steaks into the marinade, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

2. Pat dry the sword fish, and do not throw away the marinade. Sprinkle potato starch on both side of the fish. 

3. In a pan, heat the olive oil with medium high heat. Place the sword fish and cook for about 10 minutes, turning once. Be careful not to burn the fish.

4. Place the swordfish on the plate and cover... keep warm. Using the same pan, stir green onions for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the marinade sauce and cook for another minute.

5. Garnish the swordfish steaks with daikon radish and pour the marinade/green onion sauce on top. Serve warm.

Japanese Style Gluten Free Cheese Cake

• 1 package  (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 3 egg yokes
• 3 tablespoons Gluten Free baking flour (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place egg whites in a large mixing bowl and using electric mixer, beat egg whites until still. Put it aside.
2. In separate bowl, mix softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Add egg yolks, one by one.  Add optional flour into the egg yolk mixture.
3. Fold in egg yolk mixture into stiff egg whites gently. Make sure well blended, but do not over mix. 
4. Pour the batter into 8 or 9 inch greased pan. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes or until done. Let it cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi with Sautéed Spinach

When making any seafood dish, make sure you are using "wild caught" fish. Because most of the farm raised fish are corn fed these days, that means they are filled with omega-6... which we need to avoid. On the other hand, wild caught fish are very high in omega-3, and are very good for us.
Wild caught Mahi Mahi was on sale at Meijer a couple weeks ago, so we bought a lot and froze them. This recipe is good for any white fish or salmon, so try this with other fish if you like!


Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi
Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 (6 ounce) mahi mahi fillets
• salt & pepper to taste

1. In a shallow glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
3. Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistently. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

Sautéed Spinach with Shiitake Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. fresh spinach leaves
• 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce

1. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. 

2. Add spinach & shiitake mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with soy sauce and serve warm.

Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal

I'm trying my best to make a lot of things "from scratch" while on this diet, but I am very open to any (safe) gluten free pre-packaged products out there! 
Bob's Red Mill (again) Mighty Tasty Cereal was definitely mighty tasty! My first impression of this hot cereal was that it tasted just like cream of wheat, but a little bit crunchy. It is a combination of buckwheat, brown rice and corn, and I added a small amount of milk and a teaspoonful of maple syrup. Feel free to add your favorite fruits too. 

Gluten Free Pizza

We love home made pizza, and it would be very difficult for us to give up pizza completely just because of my diet. I'm sure that you have tried several different GF pizza recipes if you have been on the GF diet for a while, but this is my favorite so far. The pizza crust was a little crispy outside and still chewy in the middle... it was delicious! Don't forget to let the dough rise before shaping it into a pizza form.

Ingredients

Crust: 

• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 3/4 tapioca flour
• 2/3 sorghum flour
• 1 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Pizza Sauce

• 1 (15 oz) can tomato purée
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1. In bowl of electric mixer, whisk together tapioca flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, xanthum gum, and salt.

2. In small saucepan over moderate heat, stir together milk and 1/4 cup water and heat until warm but not hot to the touch, about 1 minute. Stir in yeast and sugar. Add milk–yeast mixture, eggs, and 2 tablespoons oil to dry ingredients and, using paddle attachment, beat at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until dough is very smooth and very thick, about 5 minutes.
3. Place into a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 1 hour.

4. Roll out with rolling pin onto lightly greased pizza pan or pans of your choice, poke dough with fork and place into a pre-heated 375F oven and let bake 5-7 minutes or until soft to touch. Remove from oven and place on sauce and topping then return to oven and bake at 425F until cheese is melted or golden brown. 

Chunky Veggie-Lentil Soup

This was surprisingly satisfying! My favorite part of this recipe is that it literally took me less than 45 minutes (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking time) to make the soup. I used carrots, mushrooms and nappa cabbage, but feel free to add your favorite veggie items. If your New Year resolution is to eat well (& stay well), try this low carb, high fiber soup at home : )

Ingredients:

• 1 tabalespoon olive oil
• 1 med. onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup dry green (Frensh) lentils, rinsed & drained
• 1 lb. whole small mushrooms, quartered
• 4 med. carrots, thinly sliced
• 4 cups water
• 2 cans (14-oz.) gluten free chicken broth (or veggie broth)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 of a head nappa (Chinese cabbage) sliced into strips

1. In a 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic (image 1). Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in lentils (image 2); cook and stir 1 minute.

2. Add mushrooms, carrots, water, broth, salt & pepper. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. (image 3)
3. Add nappa cabbage and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Makes 6 servings.

Bob's Red Mill GF Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix

I've experimented with a few of the "gluten free baking mix" products out there, but I have to say that you cannot go wrong with Bob's Red Mill products... they are wonderful! They have plenty of options for gluten free (as well as for a regular diet) and it tastes just like the baked goods you've made using wheat flour. I tried the Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix today and this is one of the best breads I've made! If you live in Columbus area, you can get Bob's Red Mill products in most super markets and health food stores... but Marc's has the best price so far! Check out Bob's Red Mill website because they have a lot of wonderful GF recipes as well!

Egg Drop Soup

This recipe was adopted from simplyrecipes.com, and I made some small changes. Try using homemade chicken stock for this, and you will love it!

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 cups gluten free chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 3/4 cups straw, enoki or sliced shitake mushrooms

1. Reserve 1/2 cup of the stock and mix with the cornstarch until dissolved.
2. Place the chicken stock, ginger, soy sauce, green onions, mushrooms and white pepper in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch and stock mixture and stir. Reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs while stirring the soup. The egg will spread out into ribbons. Turn off the heat and garnish with a few more chopped onions. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

What About Grass Fed Beef?

One of my diet goals is to balance Omega 3 &  Omega 6. With the average American diet, we are getting way too much Omega 6 (a.k.a. "bad fats")... so it's obvious that we need to make conscious choices in order to take in more Omega 3 (which is better for cardiovascular health) in our diet. One of the biggest changes I can make is to choose all grass fed animals, instead of grain fed. Grass fed animals have 2 to 4 times more Omega 3 fatty acids than meat from grain fed animals. Because meat from grass fed animals is lower in fat than meat from grain fed animals, it is also lower in calories. As I was looking through some amazing researches on this topic, I found this interesting website by Jo Robinson: www.eatwild.com.

"Omega-3s are called "good fats" because they play a vital role in every cell and system in your body. For example, of all the fats, they are the most heart-friendly. People who have ample amounts of omega-3s in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat. Remarkably, they are 50 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack. Omega-3s are most abundant in seafood (wild caught), but they are also found in animals raised on pasture. The reason is simple. Omega-3s are formed in the chloroplasts of green leaves and algae. Sixty percent of the fatty acids in grass are omega-3s. When cattle are taken off omega-3 rich grass and shipped to a feedlot to be fattened on omega-3 poor grain, they begin losing their store of this beneficial fat. Each day that an animal spends in the feedlot, its supply of omega-3s is diminished." from eatwild.com.

If you are thinking about making the switch, or if you are interested in finding out more about it, you definitely want to check out this website!

Wonderful Gluten Free Scones

I’m so glad there are so many wonderful gluten free scone recipes out there! Here is absolutely my favorite…   For GF all purpose flour, mix the following ingredients: 2 cups tapioca starch flour, 5 cups white rice flour, 2 1/2 cups potato starch flour, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 4 tbsp xanthan gum.

Here is the recipe for the perfect tea scones:

• 1 3/4 cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, optional
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
• 3/4 cup fruits or chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup cold milk
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

1) Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Grease a divided scone pan, or great (or line with parchment) a baking sheet. 2) Whisk together the flour or flour blend, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, and nutmeg.

3) Work in the cold butter till the mixture is crumbly.

4) Stir in the dried fruits or chocolate chips.

5) Whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla till frothy.

6) Add to the dry ingredients, stirring till well blended. The dough should be cohesive and very sticky.

7) Drop dough by the 1/3-cupful into the scone pan or onto the baking sheet. Let the scones rest for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle the scones with sparkling sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, till golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes or so before serving. Best enjoyed warm, with butter and jam. Serves 8 scones. Enjoy!

Manhattan Clam Chowder & GF Corn Bread

I realized that I don't have to always look for special "gluten free" recipes.. but I can just look for regular recipes and try to find something gluten/plant oil free, or modify it to fit my needs!
I think I can honestly say that this is the best Manhattan clam chowder I've ever had! And of course, it was not only GF, but also plant oil & latex free! I also found a great GF corn bread recipe online, but I modified it a little. The result? ... yum!

Manhattan Clam Chowder:

• 1 pint shucked clams
• 1 cup tomato and clam juice
• 2 potatoes, cleaned and chopped
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes

1. Chop clams, reserving juice; set clams aside. Strain clam juice to remove bits of shell. Measure juice; add enough water to equal 1 1/2 cups liquid.
2. Combine clam juice mixture, clam-tomato juice cocktail, potatoes, bell peppers, scallions and black pepper in large saucepan; heat to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.
3. Stir in the undrained tomatoes and the chopped clams and heat through.

Gluten Free Corn Bread:

• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 beaten large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup creamed corn
• 1/4 cup melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt) together in a med. bowl and set aside.
2. Melt the one tablespoon of butter in a 10 inch cast-iron skillet or 8/9 inch round baking pan in the oven. This takes about three minutes. Swirl the butter around the pan coating the bottom and sides.
3. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, milk, creamed corn and 1/4 cup butter. Add this mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Pour batter into the hot skillet or baking pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm.

First things first...

Hello, wonderful world of gluten free! Now that I started a very special diet that's gluten, latex, plant oil-free (I know, right?), I decided to record all my insights here. I'm looking forward to experimenting with all the different options I have to create some "goodies" so that I don't have to give up some of my favorite menu items without feeling guilty. But first things first. I live on soy sauce (no Japanese people live without soy sauce) and I was shocked to find out that even soy sauce has wheat : (  Well, my first gluten free investment was the bottle of gluten free soy sauce from WholeFoods! I can't wait to try it and see if it tastes the same as the good ol' Kikkoman : )