Gluten Free

Shepherd’s Pie

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I am half English and grew up eating (and loving) Shepard’s Pie. Every family has their own version of this comfort food! Since I have started cooking, I have created my own version of Shepard’s Pie and I am not sure my Dad is on board with it quite yet (as a good Brit, he does not boast the chili-belly that I inherited from my mother who was raised in Venezuela). I use both lamb and beef, my mother only used beef, generally called Cottage Pie, because she does not care for lamb. You can use whichever you prefer. One day soon I will make it the old-fashioned (and delicious) way by making a stew with the meat, but for now I typically stick with this quicker version for the weekdays. There are a million variations to this and you can try whatever you like (I can’t wait to). You ca:  use mashed sweet potatoes for higher nutrition; use garlic mashed potatoes; make cheesy potatoes, you can use mashed potatoes, parsnips, and turnips; add whatever veggies you would like (or have on hand).  Shepherd’s Pie can literally be whatever your heart desires.

I tend to use lamb because it is leaner (and also the authentic Shepherd’s Pie meat); also, I like to top it with garlic mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese. In my mashed potatoes, I sub a good amount of chicken broth for the milk to lower the calories and alleviate dairy-related complications. I also like my meat layer to be pretty saucey so that you can mix the juice with the potatoes.  So this is the version you are getting.

Shepherd’s Pie

For Meat Layer 

One tablespoon Olive oil
One large onion, diced
Four ounces pancetta, small dice (optional)
One large carrot, peeled and chopped
Six cloves garlic, minced
One pound ground lamb (or substitute half with another ground meat)
One cup beef broth (can sub chicken)
Worcestershire
Small handful of sun-dried tomatoes, minced (optional)
Small dash of red wine (optional and to taste)
One to two tablespoons tomato paste ( I like to use about 1.5 and I also like to use sun-dried tomato paste)
Season to taste with the following: Italian seasoning; garlic; salt; white pepper; crushed red pepper flakes, fresh thyme and rosemary (optional)
Two cups frozen peas

For Potatoes

Two pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Three tablespoons unsalted butter
One-Third cup milk (any fat content)
One-half Cup Chicken Broth (adjust more to reach desired consistency)
Kosher salt to taste
Four to Six Cloves Roasted Garlic (can sub garlic paste or just garlic powder)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
One-half Cup Aged Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
One cup Green onions
Sprinkle of Paprika

Note: If you have a large, oven-proof stove-top dish, feel free to use it to make the meat layer and then be the baking vestibule (then you wont lose any flavor).

Preheat oven to 375°F.  In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil, then add the pancetta and brown. Then add the onion, garlic, carrot and saute for a few minutes. Add meat and cook until brown for a few minutes. Add the Worcestershire, Wine, Broth, Sun-Dried tomato paste, herbs and seasoning and simmer about 10 minutes. Add the peas, stir well and reserve.

Meanwhile, bring the potatoes to a boil in salted water. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes; drain. Mash the potatoes with the butter, milk, broth, garlic, salt and pepper. Spread them over the meat mixture, then crosshatch the top with a fork. Sprinkle mashed potatoes with paprika (and cayenne or Sriracha if desired). Bake for about 15 minutes, then remove and top with cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes more (when crust is golden, cheese is melted, and meat stew is boiling). Once you remove the pie, top with green onions (or Chives) and let cool for a few minutes. Serve and Enjoy!

*You can add crispy shallots as garnish as well for a bit of texture.

Chicken, Spinach and Zucchini Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

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A departure from my usual enchiladas, but still just as tasty! They are actually really easy if you have a few hours to let the stew slow-cook or make it in advance. I consider these healthy enchiladas, take that for whatever it means to you.

Chicken, Mushroom and Zucchini Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

For Stew

Two pounds tomatillos, husked and rinsed
Four bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), seasoned to preference
Two bone-in, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), seasoned to preference
Seven jalapeños, stemmed and halved lengthwise
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
One cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
Ten green onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
One head garlic, roughly minced
One and one-half White onion, roughly diced
Four cups (or more if needed) Chicken or Veggie Stock
Two Tablespoons Cumin Seeds
Two or Three Cups Spinach
One Tablespoon each: Red Pepper Flakes, Adobo, Oregano (taste and adjust according to preference)
One large avocado

For Enchiladas

Two cups shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
Two cups Spinach
Two Cups Shredded Chicken
Pinch Salt
One cup shredded zucchini (or diced)
Tortillas of choice (I used corn and Roasted Jalapeno)

For Garnish (Optional)

Lime for Garnish (if necessary)
Avocado Slices
Chopped Green Onions
Fresh Cilantro
Half cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted with seasoning of choice  (I like Cayenne, Salt, and Adobo)
Three tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Add cumin and toast for about a minute. Add chicken and brown for a few minutes on each side. Add garlic, onions, tomatillos, jalapeños, and salt and stir. After about five minutes, add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about an hour. Add additional seasoning and simmer another half-hour. Adjust seasoning as needed. Remove chicken and reserve. In a small skillet, heat a small bit of oil and add the cilantro, spinach and green onions. Cook until softened, then combine both the tomatillo sauce and the cilantro/green onion mixture and the avocado in a blender or in the dutch oven to emulsify.  Bring sauce to a boil and then medium low, simmer here for about ten minutes.

Meanwhile, shred (or pull) the chicken from the bones and reserve in a large bowl. Add shredded cheese, spinach, and shredded zucchini to the bowl and mix well. Using tortillas of choice (slightly whetted and zapped in the microwave to increase pliability), add the chicken mixture to the bowl and then roll tortillas sealing with a toothpick.

Spoon about a cup of the sauce over the bottom of an enchilada pan, then place the assembled enchiladas into the pan. Smother with sauce and top with a decent sprinkling of shredded cheese. Bake until sauce is bubbling on 385 degrees. After removal, top with the toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds and serve with sour cream -black beans and Brilliantly Garlikcy Guac.

Tomatillo-Pulled Chicken

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It has been a while since my last post. Thank you grad school and work and job-hunting!! In addition to my lack of posting, home-cooked meals have become increasingly scarce. When I do provide a home-cooked meal, I have increasingly noticed that my beloved dutch oven is generally the cooking medium (though I am not sure how much of this trend is the cooler weather, my need for a new pan, and paucity of time). I have cooked this twice in the past month for a three reasons; the first being I am out of enchilada sauce and have to make my own.

The first time I made this was a lake weekend that D and I were enjoying just the two of us. My dad was out-of-town, so we invited my mother who flaked while saying “you should come here…” Normally, we would have been happy to oblige; however, I had two different slow-cookers going at the time. D really wanted to go because, well, he loves my parents house. We all know how the story ends right…reason and sanity overrule desire and we do not try to move about 3 gallons of hot liquid dishes in the trunk of a car for an hour. Maybe that is how your story ends…in Andiland reason seldom prevails and we scrounged up the three largest Tupperware we could find, threw Foster Brown in the backseat and 1.5 hours later arrived at my mom’s house (after stopping at the grocery to get the remaining dinner supplies). After arrival, I re-started the cooking process and taste-tested and added stuff. The original plan for dinner had been to make tomatillo-pulled chicken, let it hang out and get all delicious, then pull the chicken out to make chicken and spinach enchiladas and use the tomatillo liquid as the sauce. Great in theory; in reality, it was about 10:00 before the chicken was done and I was tired and hungry. Ergo, We had tacos with all the ingredients involved.

This story brings me to the third reason I have made this twice in one month (besides being delicious, healthy, easy, affordable and amazingly delicious). I REALLY wanted to follow through on my original idea of enchiladas. Last Friday, we had a lovely double date with friends – one of whom is gluten-free. I threw out dinner suggestions risotto and tomatillo pulled chicken enchiladas (with corn tortillas). After I started salivating over tomatillo chicken and how awesome it was before, I had our decision. It turned out really good, albeit different from my usual enchiladas. If you are looking for healthy enchiladas, look no further. Feel free to leave out the zucchini if you wish, I just like sneaking nutrition into everything I can.

Here is the only problem: I really do not remember what or the amounts of anything that I put in either of these so the following recipe is an educated guess. No matter how you serve this, the toasted Pepita seeds are an excellent way to add some texture and a nice dash of flavor to either tacos, enchiladas, or just as a stew. This entire recipe is [very] loosely based on a Whole Foods recipe for Guatemalan Stew.You can use leftover liquid as salsa, tostada topping or as a nice sauce later in the week.

Tomatillo-Pulled Chicken Stew

Stew

Two pounds tomatillos, husked and rinsed
Four bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), seasoned to preference
Two bone-in, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), seasoned to preference
Seven jalapeños, stemmed and halved lengthwise
Salt and pepper to taste
One tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
One cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
Ten green onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
One head garlic, roughly minced
One and one-half White onion, roughly diced
Four cups (or more if needed) Chicken or Veggie Stock
Two Tablespoons Cumin Seeds
One Tablespoon each: Red Pepper Flakes, Adobo, Oregano (taste and adjust according to preference)

Garnish

Lime for Garnish (if necessary)
Avocado Slices
Chopped Green Onions
Fresh Cilantro
Half cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted with seasoning of choice  (I like Cayenne, Salt, and Adobo)
Three tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
Corn tortillas

Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Add cumin and toast for about a minute. Add chicken and brown for a few minutes on each side. Add garlic, onions, tomatillos, jalapeños, and salt and stir. After about five minutes, add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about an hour. Add additional seasoning and simmer another half-hour. Adjust seasoning as needed. Remove chicken and reserve. In a small skillet, heat a small bit of oil and add the cilantro, spinach and green onions. Cook until softened, then combine both the tomatillo sauce and the cilantro/green onion mixture in a blender or in the dutch oven to emuslify. If you would like to thicken the sauce with avocado (or make tomatillo-avocado sauce), add desired amount of avocado to the blending medium. Bring sauce to a boil and then medium low, simmer here for about ten minutes.

Meanwhile, shred (or pull) the chicken from the bones and reserve in a large bowl. If serving as stew, return chicken to pan and garnish with the listed items. Serve with warm corn tortillas. The picture below is of the tacos we ended up making (pursuant to the story before). I chopped tomatoes and avocado, then made tacos with the stew and the garnish. They were fantastic.

Tom Kha Gai

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Last night, D and I had Thai night. I was happy he agreed because I was dead set on having Tom Kha (but did not want to go all the way north to Titaya’s to get it). Tom Kha Gai  is not a joking matter. If a Thai place has lackluster Tom Kha, I will never again eat there and you better hope you did not recommend it to me. This is hands down my favorite soup to eat and I would eat it everyday if I had my 18-year old body back  (pho, roasted tomato and traditional ramen/udon are close behind). I really hope, and think I rightfully suspect, that Heaven boasts a never-ending bowl of Tom Kha. My homemade Tom Kha, while close, is not quite on par with Titaya’s (FYI best Thai in Austin) – but it is a damn good comparison. The only real difference is that mine is a bit healthier: I use low fat coconut milk and only about three-quarters of a cup of regular fat to save about 400 calories.  This switch does affect the soup slightly – it will not be quite as thick and creamy and will be a tad less sweet, but really – it tastes pretty awesome!

The shopping: there are not a ton of ingredients in this, but some can be hard to track down (if you can buy large quantities and store appropriately for a pantry meal). Whole Foods, Central Market and specialty Thai stores will have the ingredients you need. If possible, try to get your Kaffir Limes either from your own plant or from a Thai store (who will generally have their own tree) because they have better and more potent flavor than store bought ones.  You can buy several extra stocks of lemon grass, cut into three-inch pieces, and store in a freezer bag for months. Do not sub dried lemon grass for fresh, it is far inferior. Coriander is cilantro; ergo coriander root is the root of the cilantro bunch you pick up at the store. I have never found this fresh in a non-Asian market – you can sub ground coriander or coriander seed with fresh cilantro. Additionally, try to find fresh galangal (it is also jarred in some specialty stores); if you cannot, sub ginger.

If you have a well-stocked pantry, this soup is a super quick way to have a delicious, flavorful, health fortifying meal (the ingredients are used in Asian countries to heal the body and stave off illness). The flavors are surprisingly complex. You can use chicken or shrimp, or leave them out altogether if you do not have any on hand.

Note:  I have been making this soup (I also use a smaller portion for sauce) for years. It may not come out right every time, but have patience, eventually you will learn the flavors and how to tweak them. Too sour or spicy: Add a bit of sugar. Too acidic: add some more coconut milk. Too Sweet: add some acid and fish sauce. Many times the outcome of the soup will be the victim of sub-par and commercialized ingredients (which is why if you can find an Asian market, it will be your best bet). All that said, you most likely will never have a terrible outcome and it sure is fun getting it just right!

Tom Kha Gai

Serves Three

One Can Light Coconut Milk, Plus a quarter to a half can Regular Coconut Milk
Two cups Good Chicken Stock (preferably homemade sub boxed if necessary), use more if needed
One teaspoon of brown sugar (or palm sugar), using more as necessary
Five lemongrass stalks, cut into three-inch pieces and brusied slightly (use more if the potency is a bit off)
One white onion, quartered and roughly chopped
Four cloves garlic, crushed
Two pieces coriander root (or good pinch seeds/powder with a decent handful of cilantro)
Five Thai chili peppers – can sub Habaneros (use less according to heat preference)
Two inch chuck of galanga or ginger
Ten Kaffir Lime Leaves
Sriracha, to taste
Pre-cooked chicken, cut into bite size pieces
Ten Cremini Mushrooms, quartered
Two tablespoons fish sauce
Fresh Lime Juice, to taste

Garnish

Chopped Basil (not traditional, I just needed to use it up)
Chopped Green Onion
Chopped Cilantro

Heat a small bit of oil in a large stock pan, add onions, garlic, peppers, galanga/ginger, lemongrass, sugar, salt, and coriander (root/seed/or powder) and saute until slightly fragrant. Add coconut milk and broth, bring to a boil, then simmer for twenty minutes or so. Strain solids and broth, then return to pan and taste the soup and add ingredients as necessary/desired. I usually add additional lemongrass stalks and kaffir lime leaves (in addition to the amount listed in ingredients) to the soup – this is sometimes not necessary depending on the quality of ingredient, but I always leave it as an option. Feel free to add some onions back into the soup. Add sriracha and allow to cook for about ten minutes, then add mushrooms and some fresh cilantro. After about five minutes, add chopped chicken and lime juice to taste. Laddle into bowls over steamed basmati rice and garnish with freshly chopped basil, cilantro, and green onion. Serve Hot.

Bonus: even better the next day!!

 

 

Apple-Avocado Relish

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I wanted to top a spicy pulled pork dish with something crisp, bright, sweet and acidic. After looking through my fridge, I had my solution. You can whip this up in no time to had contrast to tons of things!

Apple-Avocado Relish

One green apple, cut into small dice
Three-Fourths avocado, diced
Six green onions, small dice
Pinch of Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
Fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Voila!

Caramelized Onions

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Caramelized onions. Two words that can turn  a bad day right around – after the stock market insanity last week, maybe that is exactly why I could not stop day-dreaming about caramelized onions, only stopping to fantasize about winning the lottery. These little treats are so easy and elevate something wonderful into something stellar! The versatility of onions slowly coaxed into a pile of gooey, delectable sweetness if something quite marvelous as well. Creativity shines with an element that can be thrown into sandwiches, eggs, soups, meats and stir-frys, pizzas, salads, pureed into jams, stuffed inside things,  or heaped onto gooey baked cheeses. Try to make this dish with as much tender love as possible and I swear the onions taste even sweeter. You can make caramelized onions several ways, I am giving the version that I do without a ton of butter and in a much faster time frame. However, the longer the deep, rich, sweet onions are cooked on a low heat the more amazing they become. Feel free to make a bigger batch in a crock pot over the weekend (8-12 hours) or, if you are pressed for time, simply use a little more heat to whip this up in about two hours on a week night.

Caramelized Onions
Approximately One and One-half Cup, depending on size of onions

Image obtained from Ciao Florentina!

One plus One half sweet onion, sliced evenly
One tablespoons butter (or olive oil or a mixture of the two)
A good pinch of salt
One-half tablespoon cane sugar

Slice onions in half, then slice the half into 1/8 inch slices (approximately). Heat oil or butter in a large saute pan or dutch oven. Once a medium-low heat is achieved, put onions into the pan and stir well to coat. After a couple of minutes add salt and sugar. Stir well. Return to pan every few minutes to check and make sure that the onions are not burning (add more oil, butter, or a little water or broth in the event that they do begin to burn). The goal is to have onions brown and stick to the pan without burning. Stir every few minutes for about a half hour, then lower heat and continue cooking for about an hour continuing to stir and adjust according to brownness (conversely, keep the heat a tad higher and cook for less time but check for burning).Eventually, the onions will be a rich, dark brown color. Remove from heat after about an hour and a half and either use immediately or store in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will last several days. If desired, you can hit the onions with a dash of vinegar or wine at the end of the cooking process to de-glaze the pan (for possible reuse) and bring a little additional flavor to the onions.

 

Zucchini Boats

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This was the only meal I have made myself since the sandwich that I made before leaving for the airport for Mexico 8 days ago. The lovely little place we were staying (by lovely, I mean INCREDIBLE) had an outdoor kitchen where we ate our insanely delicious breakfasts. It also had a grill that was available for guest use, along with a cutting board. We decided that we would cook dinner one night – a hard decision as this meant one night that pastor tacos would not be going into my belly. Next problem: the only cooking apparatus we had was a grill. Ergo, I decided to make zucchini stuffed with Oxaca cheese, Grilled Onions, and Chorizo and some re-fried beans with Manchengo cheese, sour cream, grilled onions, and jalapenos alongside some chimol (basically pico). This decision was made with a couple different trains of thought: 1) If I am giving up my nightly pastor it better be for seafood or veggies; 2) I had finally had some beans for breakfast and it whetted my appetite for them; 3) I only had a grill and one knife, so the meal need to be  simple and easy.

We garnered some additional cooking materials from the owner of the B&B, Lou, and began to make our dinner after D went in to the store. Now by extra cooking materials I do not mean much – we got a small pot for the beans and a dull knife for cutting the veg with. This was a step up in the knife department from the time I had to make dinner using a butter knife. That was … interesting.

The result of our little B&B cooked meal was outstanding. The freshness of the ingredients sang and all the flavors, though not particularly complex, married very well together. Better yet, everything I used to make this meal can be found in the States (though it will be different than the traditional local flavors that I had available in Tulum) and is a cheap and satisfying crowd-pleaser for those awesome summer weekends in Texas!

Note: I had originally intended to put the bean mixture in avocado halves, but the avocado did not come home from the store, so we did without. No worries – beans are amazing.


Zucchini Boats

Two Zucchinis, washed and halved
One Chorizo Link
One half Onion
1/4 cup Oxaca cheese
Brush of Olive oil (or in my case Spray of Pam olive oil)
Salt and Pepper
A dash of seasoning of choice (I had a Mexican seasoning that was like a lime-cayenne with adobo so I sprinkled some of that on here)

Season Grill with onion, then grill until glassy (alternately – oil a small pan and saute until glassy). Place chorizo on grill and grill for about 3-4 minutes on either side, depending on thickness. Take the zucchini halves and cut a deep square shape in the middle in order to stuff them. Grill, skin side up, for about 3-4 minutes first then flip. Stuff with Cheese and grill for an additional 3-4 minutes. Top with onions and chorizo and enjoy with sides of pico and cheesy re-fried beans.

Smoked Tortilla Soup

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You know those days that you just cannot decide what you want to eat? The days when nothing sounds good, but you have 95 percent of the components of four different dishes that desperately need to be used up. Yesterday was one of those days in Andiland. I finally decided that I would get the remaining 3 elements that I needed for a stir fry (basically just needed a protein) and to make tortilla soup, thinking that if I made both I could have the soup for lunch or just freeze it. Fast forward to actually getting home and cooking dinner and I was just too tired to cook both – so soup was on the menu. I have always thought that the name of tortilla soup is funny. For starters, I do not eat tortilla chips with my tortilla soup – at this point does it just become Mexican tomato soup with chicken? I guess tortilla soup stills sounds better. Then you have people claiming to have roasted tortilla soup. What is roasted? The tomatoes? The Chicken? Could be anything or nothing really. Then you have smoked tortilla soup – when can also be chicken or the peppers. In my case I suppose I made Smoked non-tortilla tortilla soup because I used smoked chipotle peppers in adobo. Good enough for me! The beauty of this soup is that it is flavorful, can be adapted any which way, is healthy (go light on the cheese), and can easily be a pantry meal when you cannot get to the store. Additionally, you can make this in 30 minutes or let it slow cook. It is also adaptable for vegetarian diets (leave out the chicken) and has no gluten or dairy (omit cheese) so it can be great for those sensitivities.

Note: I would have rather used fresh, roasted tomatoes but I only had one and a can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes – so that is what went in. I think I should have used a little less as the end result was a bit too tomatoey (though I could have added more stock – just did not want to make a HUGE portion). Additionally, I used chipotle peppers in adobo as my main source of spice – feel free to use dried chipotle peppers, cayenne, jalapeno, or whatever your pleasure is. I used a little more than half a can, I think I could have used a bit less. The end result was quite spicy and smoky, not necessarily a bad thing as D and I like both elements very much, but cooking for others I would have reduced it.Also, I hate bell peppers. Normally you would put some in a tortilla soup, but given my aversion, I could only manage to put maybe a quarter in (it was pre-diced as well because I cannot stand the smell of bell peppers at any stage of their journey).

Tortilla Soup, Serves 3-4

One can Muir Glen Organic Fire-Roasted Tomatoes (Crushed, Diced, or Whole)
One Medium Tomato, roughly chopped
Four cups chicken broth
One White Onion, diced
Six cloves garlic, minced
Two tablespoons Cumin Seeds
One tablespoon Adobo
Two tablespoons Oregano
One Tablespoon Ground Coriander
One Tablespoon Tumeric powder
One Tablespoon Garlic powder (optional)
Nine Sprigs Fresh Thyme
One cup frozen sweet corn (optional)
One quarter green bell pepper, diced (use more if desired)
One Chicken breast, shredded (pre-cooked or cooked in soup, can also use dark meat with same method)
Juice of one lime
Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish

Avocado Slices
Chopped Fresh Cilantro
Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
Fresh Fried Corn Tostadas
Lime Wedges

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a stock pot. Once heated, add the onions, cumin seeds, and garlic to the pan with a pinch of salt. If using chicken, place that in pan as well to brown the outsides.* Stir and allow to cook for a couple of minutes then add all ground spices. Add broth and tomatoes to pan, stir well. Add bell peppers (this should be done with the onions, but I cannot stand the smell of them cooking so I added them to the liquid) and thyme sprigs. Let the mixture simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes – you can actually make this a very quick meal or a slow-cooked meal if you prefer. The flavors will be more developed the longer it cooks so if you have the time to start it and let it sit for about two or three hours that will be fine. After about 30 minutes, add the lime juice and about a half cup to a cup of fresh chopped cilantro. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with a small garnish bowl of avocado, fresh cilantro, a lime wedge, shredded cheese and a freshly fried whole tortilla (heat a small amount of oil in a pan and fry corn tortilla one each side until it bubbles and curls).

*If using pre-cooked chicken, shred and add in about 10 minutes from when you will ladle soup out so that chicken does not over-cook. If using raw chicken, brown on all sides with onions, then allow chicken to slowly cook with the simmering stew (about 40 minutes). Remove from pan and shred if necessary, if using wings, legs, and thighs then remove bones from soup before serving.