Pappardelle alla Bolognese

A delicious rich and slowly simmered sauce, which tastes even better the next day – if you can wait that long!

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

100g pancetta, chopped into lardons

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled & grated

3 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed

600g lean minced steak

125g button mushrooms, sliced

300ml red wine

2 tbsp tomato puree

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

1 good pinch of sugar

Salt & freshly ground pepper

100ml double cream

450g pappardelle, cooked as per packet instructions

Freshly grated parmesan, to serve

Preparation method

1.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the pancetta for 1-2 minutes.  Now add the onion, garlic and carrot, fry for 5 minutes stirring occasionally until softened.

2.  Stir in the mince, cook for 10 minutes until evenly coloured and stir in the mushrooms and fry for a further minute.  Now add the wine, tomato puree, tomatoes, oregano, sugar and season to taste and bring to the boil.

3.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours and stir occasionally.  Pour in the cream, stir through, cover and simmer for a further 30 minutes.

4.  Cook the pappardelle as per packet instructions, drain well and spoon the Bolognese over and serve with parmesan cheese.

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Oh Baby! Bundt Cake

Today it's a Carrot Bundt Cake with 

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

It has a secret ingredient that makes it so easy

....baby food!

 You can also use other flavors of baby food.

tip: take out the half stick of butter and half brick

of cream cheese now so that they will be softened 

when it's time to make the frosting.

 Mix the sugar and oil, then beat in the eggs.

 Mix in the baby food, 

 cinnamon, soda, and a pinch of salt.

 After the batter is well-mixed, add the flour

 and chopped pecans.

 Pour into a (greased/floured) sprayed pan.

Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. Test after 45'

Sides will pull away slightly and the top will spring

 back when lightly pressed with a finger. Long 

toothpick will come out with a few moist crumbs

(not wet batter). You should be able to smell it!

That always tells me when it's done.

 While the cake cools, rinse out the bowl and

 beaters to make the lemon cream cheese frosting.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, 

then invert onto a cake stand.

Whip until creamy.

 Line a short glass with a baggie, folding over 

the top and fill with frosting.

Zip it shut and snip off a little of the corner.

 You can also just dust the top of the cake with 

powdered sugar, but I like the drizzle of frosting. 

It's not too much.

 Squeeze the bag and pipe it on.

 Pretty enough to eat!

 Make a pot of coffee or tea and

cut yourself a piece of cake.

 I'll probable cut some pieces to freeze, 

after all there are only two of us.

 Or give a slice to whoever stops by.

That was the yard guy today. 

It's very easy, good, and moist. 

Lots of flavor options with just

2 jars of baby food. 

*Don't forget to save your jars!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh Baby! Bundt Cake

2 C sugar

1 C oil

3 XL eggs

2 small jars baby food 

(carrot ~ 4oz each)

2 t cinnamon

1 t baking soda

pinch salt

2 C flour

1 C pecans, chopped

Mix oil and sugar. Beat in egg.

Add baby food, cinnamon, soda, and salt.

When well mixed, add flour and nuts.

Bake in a well greased and floured tube or

bundt pan. Bake for 50 minutes, until 

sides pull away and toothpick has moist crumbs.

let cool in pan for 15  minutes then invert onto

cake plate. Let cool before frosting or just 

dust with powdered sugar.

note* you can make any flavor cake by using

different combinations of baby food. 

1 plum + 1 apricot w/ additional 

1/4t nutmeg or cloves

~~~~~~~~~~

2 apricot or 2 peach

~~~~~~~~~~

2 apple or 1 apple + 1 pear

you get the idea!

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese (1/2 brick)

2 oz butter (1/2 stick)

1 t vanilla

1 T lemon juice

2 C powdered sugar

Have butter and cream cheese at room temp.

Beat with beaters. Add vanilla and lemon juice.

Beat in powdered sugar.

Scoop onto baggie and snip off tiny corner, 

then pipe onto cooled cake.

Enjoy!

Links: Savvy Southern Style,
Stone Gable, No Minimalist Here,
Between Naps On The Porch,
My Romantic Home, Common Ground,
The Charm Of Home
Featured At:

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Product Review: Taste Guru Gluten-Free Subscription Box, May 2013

I signed up to try TasteGuru, a gluten-free monthly food subscription service. It's kinda pricey, I signed up for the $24 a month plan, so I could cancel anytime. You generally get a box of 5-7 different gluten-free items. Many of them are items that are new to the gluten-free food market.

Here are the goodies that were included in the May 2013 box: 

• Rocky Mountain White Cheddar Popcorn 
• Canyon Oats Brown Sugar Instant Oats 
• Glutino Strawberry Toaster Pastries
• Falafel Chips
• KIND Honey Oat Granola
• NOT PICTURED: Gratify Gluten-Free Pretzel Thins with Sesame Seeds
• NOT PICTURED: Le Veneziane Penne Rigate Corn Gluten-Free Pasta
• NOT PICTURED: Coco Cafe - Cafe Latte

So far I've tired the white cheddar popcorn (YUM!), one of the toaster pastries (good! better than the Eco Planet brand) and the Falafel Chips (different, but good!).  Michael also tried the Gratify pretzel thins and loved them (they had soy flour, so I couldn't eat them). He enjoyed the pretzels so much he took them to work for a snack. 

To be honest, I'm not sure it's really worth $25 for the products in this particular box, but then again as we all know ANY gluten-free processed food is going to be quite a bit more expensive than it's "wheat" counterpart. So I may be comparing the cost to what I would assume the same non-GF products would cost. 

I think the most fun part about this box is simply getting to see a neat variety of new gluten-free products every month. You can see if you like them, share them with other gluten-free friends if you don't! 

Have you tried Taste Guru? What did you think? Would you try a gluten-free food subscription service? 

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Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread Recipe

One of the recipes I love to teach in my gluten-free baking classes is focaccia. An Italian flat bread thats made with gluten-free flours, yeast, eggs, olive oil, and herbs. The taste and texture of a thick focaccia bread is different than any other bread you will try. It's chewy, yet crunchy, and incredibly full of flavor.

Rich olives and sundried tomatoes, dried oregano and basil, fresh garlic... personally I'd rather eat a thick slice of toasty focaccia with a hearty homemade soup, than a piece of pizza! This recipes make two round 8" loaves or "cakes" of focaccia. You can easily freeze one loaf for later if it's too much. For those of you who need a lower carbohydrate/ "paleo-ish" version of focaccia, I plan on posting one next week, so stay tuned!

This gluten-free recipe makes a very thick, sturdy dough that can be a bit hard to handle when just stirring by hand. So if you have a heavy-duty stand mixer, it's the perfect appliance to mix this dough. Whether you're using a little elbow grease, or you'd using the stand mixer, try out this recipe and have it simply with a fresh salad and a homemade soup. It makes a delicious and fun gluten-free meal to share with your family!

I learned how to make this fantastic gluten-free dough while visiting the Whole Foods Gluten-Free Bakehouse in Morrisville, NC. Lee Tobin, the bakehouse team leader and head baker, shared his techniques and his recipe with our local gluten-free support group while we toured the facility. This incredibly chewy and crunchy bread would also make an outstanding deep dish pizza crust!

Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread  free of gluten, dairy, and soy recipe adapted by carrie forbes of gingerlemongirl.com printer-friendly recipe Yields: 12-16 slices of focaccia  Dry Ingredients  1 ½ cups brown rice flour 1/2 cup sorghum flour 2 cups arrowroot starch or tapioca starch 2/3 cup blanched almond flour or non-fat dry milk powder (if you can tolerate dairy - we use the blanched almond flour 1 tablespoon xanthan gum 2 teaspoons Saf Instant-Yeast, Red Star Rapid Rise or “Bread Machine” Yeast, or Fleischmann’s “Bread Machine” Yeast 1 teaspoon salt Wet Ingredients: 1 ½ cups water heated to 110 degrees 3 tablespoons olive oil 4 egg whites, brought to room temperature 1 clove garlic, finely minced Fresh herbs, finely chopped (such as rosemary, oregano, or thyme) Olive oil for spreading dough Optional toppings: chopped and seeded kalamata olives and roma tomatoes Directions:  Line a 9x14” baking dish with parchment paper and grease parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil.  In a large bowl whisk together brown rice flour, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch or tapioca starch, almond flour or non-fat dry milk powder, xanthan gum, and salt.   In another bowl whisk together heated water, olive oil, egg whites. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir together thoroughly into a stiff dough. Continue to mix as much as you can (it is a VERY stiff dough!) for an additional 3-4 minutes.  Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish. Drizzle the dough with a little olive oil and then evenly spread dough over the entire baking dish. Cover the dough lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for about 35 minutes.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently poke the dough all over with your fingers so small wells appear over the dough. Drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle on the minced garlic and any of the additional toppings you would like.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until focaccia is golden brown and crispy. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then slice into squares and serve.

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Homemade Rice-a-Roni

If you want something  a little more interesting 

than plain rice you can jazz it up 

with just a few simple ingredients.

This is good side to serve with grilled food like: 

chicken, salmon or flank steak.

You have everything you need in your pantry.

Snap spaghetti into small pieces until it fills 1/2C.

Measure out all the seasonings before starting. 

This makes it easier to add quickly.

You can adjust the seasonings to suite your taste.

Saute the broken spaghetti and rice in butter.

Stirring until golden.

It's already starting to smell good!

Stir in the seasonings.

Add the broth. You can use canned or bullion

 and water. I've made it with beef broth too.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low 

and simmer covered for about 20  minutes. 

Most of the liquid will have been absorbed.

Fluff and serve.

Leftovers are good too.

Homemade Rice-a-Roni
1 C white (regular long grain) rice
1/2 C pasta, (spaghetti) broken into small pieces
2 T butter
3 C chicken broth
2 T parsley flakes
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t pepper
1/4 -1/2 t seasoned salt (depending of saltiness of broth)

Melt the butter in a large skillet and saute the rice and pasta until golden, stirring often. Stir in all the seasonings, then add the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer covered until the liquid had been absorbed and the rice and pasta are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork a few times. If it is still too wet,  let it sit on low with the lid off a few minutes.

Enjoy!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch

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Shepherd's Pie (aka Hamburger Pie)

Are you in the mood for comfort food?
This hamburger pie is an old favorite casserole. 

Saucy ground beef topped with mashed potatoes
and sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese.
What's not to love?

You can even make the beef filling ahead of time.

 Just bring it to room temperature before 

putting it into the oven. 

 

Simple ingredients. It's an old recipe from my
collection. It's from the 'BHG 100 Favorites'
 cookbook form the 70's.
It's retro!

 Brown the hamburger and onions.

 Add the seasonings, beans and tomato soup.

 Put into a greased pie dish. Sometimes I cover it

 at this point and refrigerate to bake later.

 Mash the potatoes while hot with the 1/2 C milk. 

 Whip in the egg.

 Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 Mound onto the hamburger.

Sprinkle with the 1/2 C shredded cheddar.

 Bake for 25-30 minuted.

 Enjoy a 'homey' dinner.

It's always good to have leftovers for lunch too.

Save this recipe for a day that has you

craving an old favorite.

Shepherd's Pie
(Hamburger Pie)

1 lb ground beef

1/2 C chopped onion

1t salt

1/2t pepper

1 can 16-oz green beans, drained

1 can tomato soup

Cook the meat with the onion until the meat  

is browned and the onion is tender. Season to 

taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the soup 

and green beans. Pour into a greased 

1-1/2 qt. casserole or deep pie dish. 

Add topping. 

topping:

5 potatoes, cooked

1/2 C milk

1 egg, mixed with fork

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

Mash the cooked potatoes while still hot with

 milk. Season with salt and pepper.

Soon in mounds around around casserole. 

Sprinkle the potatoes with cheese. 

Bake @350 for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch,
Designs By Gollum

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Gluten-Free Strawberry Cake Recipe

Summer screams strawberries to me! The early summer strawberries are now available in eastern nc... and normally I have to make a pie. My great-grandma P's best strawberry pie, as a matter of fact. And really, you should make that too.

But if you're not up to making a pie, you can make this cake. This soft, light, white cake filled with fresh strawberries!

We served this cake on Sunday for my awesome mom-in-law Carol. To make things easy, and to have a less-heavy dessert after a cookout, I simply frosted the cake with Cool Whip. But I know many MANY of you are not "fake" whipped topping fans, and that's A-Ok, because you can have your frosting too! For the "real food" folks, you could easily make a light, dairy-free coconut milk frosting, like this one: Elana's Vegan Coconut Cream Frosting. Or you could simply use real whipped cream with a little sugar added. So pick your favorite way to frost it.

However, no matter what type of whipped topping you decide to use, make SURE not to frost the cake until it's completely cool, otherwise, it will melt and be a soggy mess! Then store the cake in the refrigerator for a few hours (or overnight) before serving. This is definitely a cake that improves with a little time, so feel free to make it a day ahead of time for the yummiest results!

Gluten-Free Fresh Strawberry Cake
free of gluten and soy (and easily dairy-free)
created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch or tapioca starch/flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
3 tablespoons TEASPOONS baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Wet Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup - 1 cup fresh strawberries, diced
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
1/2 cup light-tasting olive oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of each pan. Spritz each pan with non-stick cooking spray or brush with light-tasting olive oil and set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. In a large bowl mix together sugar and fresh strawberries until they are fully coated in the sugar (this will help keep the strawberries from sinking to the bottom of the cake). Add the egg whites, almond milk, olive oil, and almond extract. Whisk wet ingredients together thoroughly. Slowly stir in dry mixture a little at a time, until it's thoroughly mixed into the wet ingredients. Pour cake batter evenly between the two greased cake pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes until the cake is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting. Frost with cool whip, coconut cream frosting (see recipe suggestions in above text), or your favorite vanilla or cream cheese frosting. (Pillsbury vanilla frosting and cream cheese frosting are both gluten-free and dairy-free). Top cake with additional fresh strawberries if desired.

**Cake is best when refrigerated for several hours before serving. Store cake in the refrigerator as it is quite moist and will not keep well on the counter. 

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