Family and the Big "C".

This little clip from a movie taken in the 1950's at our home in TN before I was born. That's my Mom in the white and her sister Rosanne on the left of the picture. I think the little girl in front mugging to the camera is my cousin Jeannie. I'm including this clip because this Aunt, one of the nicest ladies ever has Cancer. She has been fighting with the cancer for over 6 years now. I now hear she is having terrible pain in her legs and can barely walk. And since she is in California I can't just pop in to see her. So I just want to let her know how I feel.   When I was little, we went to California to see Aunt Rosanne & Uncle Mel. I was 13 at the time. I remember their great home on a golf course in San Juan Capistrano. I remember seeing my first Roadrunners trying to nest in their yard. I remember the warmth and joy in their home. And I remember falling in love with food thanks to Rosanne and her daughters all being fantastic cooks. Jeannie taught me how to make killer carrot cake while there. And oh how I loved going to the Laguna Beach Art Festival while there.

The second time I visited was in 1977 and again I was taken by the warmth and love that I felt from Rosanne and family. I learned to eat more veggies this time. LOL Jeannie was a Vegetarian and she helped me so much with learning to eat healthy.

Now I wish I could go and visit and give back somehow to this incredible Aunt who taught me so much. I don't have the money for this trip so it's just a wish and frustrating too. I have entered every contest I can find in hopes of getting a free trip out there. No luck so far. But I keep trying.

So hug your family. Give them lots of love. You never know when you won't be able to see them again. As we get older, so do our Aunts, Uncles, Parents and so on. And eventually they are gone and we would give anything to say "I love you!" just one more time.

I'm Back!

I know my previous blog got lost in the ether and I have to start over. But here we go!

I still plan to work on recipes that are safe for people with food allergies. I myself have issues with anything that has Tryptophan, so that includes Cow's Milk, Turkey, Dark Meat of Chicken, all Beans, Egg Yolks and to a lesser degree Bananas. I am also limiting the amount of wheat/gluten in my diet. So you can see I have quite a lot of challenges to still eat healthy and have dishes full of flavor and nutrition at the same time.

In the future I will put in my recipes for Mac n' Cheese, Lasagna and more. I will even tell you how to make Ricotta Cheese from Whole Goat's Milk. (It's marvelous and fairly easy too.)

I will also have pictures and listings for my jewelry designs. I will have paypal.com links for buying pieces if you want to purchase something.

And of course, just some every day ruminations, posts of what's happening in my life and pictures of trips, scenery, family and more. Lots of pictures of Uno since he is my little joy and keep an eye out for fun photos of the deck kitties too.

So I'm back, let's see what craziness I can get up to!

Rose

Grilled Ginger Tuna Steaks & Pears

Yes, once again, you heard that correct, Tuna with Pears. It was awesome. What you need :

Ingredients:

2 - 2 " thick tuna steaks
1 Asian Pear Peeled & Sliced Thickly
1/2 cup of Trader Joes Mango-Mangosteen Juice
1 TBSP ginger paste
2 TBSP Terriaki Sauce

In a large bowl mix the juice with the ginger and terriaki sauce.
Wash & peel the pear and put the slices with the tuna steaks into the sauce. Either turn frequently to coat everything in the marinade or Shake lightly if you have a lid for the bowl. Allow to sit in the marinade for 30 minutes.

Heat your grill and put down foil to cook on. I like the Reynolds Non-Stick Foil. Especially when grilling.

When the grill is hot, add the Pears & Tuna Steaks and pour the marinade over them. Put the grill cover down and let cook for 5 minutes, then check to see if the Tuna is turning from red to white on the bottom and up the sides. At that point turn everything over and allow to cook about 5 more minutes. Depending on your grill & thickness of the Tuna Steaks this can take between 10 and 15 minutes to fully cook the tuna. Remove from the fire and plate to serve. The flavor is simple and lightly spicy sweet. And the pears are a wonderful counterpoint to the meaty flavor of the Tuna Steaks.

Enjoy...

Heavenly Brussel Sprouts

Yes I know, this seems like an oxymoron. You say, "How on earth can I say Brussel Sprouts are Heavenly?" Well, let me tell you a little secret, for years I couldn't stand them either. But I never had them fresh, always frozen. And no matter what anyone did they tasted bitter to me. But recently, I found fresh ones in the grocery and my husband said, "Why don't you ever make me brussel sprouts?" So I bought them, and thought long and hard about what to do to make them taste palatable.

I got out "The Joy of Cooking" and a few other cookbooks and looked to see what they had to say. I checked Food Network too. Then I had an idea, what if I made them into a casserole, so they were balanced with other flavors. First, I cleaned, cut the base and removed some outside leaves. Then I cut them in half and put them in boiling water that I salted with a nice smokey sea salt. I only let them cook for 5 minutes. Long enough to brighten them, but not over cook. Then I quickly drained them and rinced in cold water. I think this helps to rid them of bitterness.

In a large skillet I melted a tablespoon of goat butter. (remember, I'm allergic to cow milk) Meyenburg makes a delightful butter that is very sweet. To the melted butter I add 1 diced small sweet onion (or as I did tonight, One leek, white only) and let it saute until it starts to carmelize. I add 1 rough diced granny smith apple. When the Brussel Sprouts have been rinsed off I add those to the skillet. I stir and add a tablespoon of Balsalmic Vinegar and sea salt to taste. Cover and let simmer until the sprouts have softened up. If you want to add a bit of zing you can add dried cranberries or fresh ones in season. When using fresh I cut them in half and put them in when I add the apples.

If you want to make this a full meal in one skillet, you can add cut up sausage, I love a good beer brat. When I make this a full meal, I serve it with either rice or noodles depending on my mood. I use rice noodles, but my husband loves the wide egg noodles. I even served it over coucous one time. It's marvelous.

So there you go, it's so easy and ultra good. You will be amazed at how tasty those Brussel Sprouts really are.

Rose's Version of Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Now I know there are several recipes for this. But I came up with my own, slightly less spicy version. And while messy, Richard and I really enjoyed this dinner tonight.

I had 4 boneless chicken breasts. I cleaned and trimmed them of fat and pieces that had tendon or fibrous sections. I reserved these trimmings to make a chicken stock with.

I cut the chicken into small chunks and set aside.

In a large plastic ziploc bag, I put a cup of rice flour, 3 tsp sweet smoked paprika, 1 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp ginger powder, 1/8 tsp sea salt, 1/8 tsp black pepper, both fresh ground. I zipped the bag closed and shook well to mix.

I then added the chicken and shook well to liberally coat every piece.

I coated the bottom of a wok with canola oil and heated it over medium high heat until oil started to sizzle. I then added about 1/4 of the chicken and stir fried until lightly golden and cooked through. I removed the chicken to a paper lined bowl and added the next 1/4 of the chicken to the wok. I continued until all the chicken was cooked.

I set the cooked chicken aside to cool and in a small pot I used 1 cup of water with the reserved chicken bits and fat and cooked with 1 tbsp parsley, 1 tbsp garlic about a teaspoon of rice vinager and 1 tsp celery seed. ( I used celery seed in lieu of onion since I reserved a bit of this stock and the chicken bits for the dogs food and onions are poisonous to dogs.)

When the stock was cooked I removed the chicken bits and most of the garlic leaving a broth which I then added 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1/4 cup pineapple juice, 2 tsp soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. I then added 1/4 cup of corn starch and heated until it thickened. I added 1/3 cup of diced red pepper as the last ingredient before removing from the heat.

I added this mixture to the chicken I had already cooked and tossed to coat it liberally.

I then removed the green leaf lettuce from the fridge that I had cleaned and dried the leaves of earlier in the day. I set out plates with the lettuce and small dipping dishes of soy sauce on the side. From the bowl of chicken we then spooned some of the chicken into the center of a lettuce leaf. You then rolled the leaf making sort of a taco or pocket sandwhich and ate. We each at about 4 or 5 of these stuffed lettuce wraps. So good.

If you like things spicier, you can add some fresh chili peppers to the sauce. But I am a wimp and like things flavorful but never spicy hot.

Rose's Lamby Shepard Pie

This is a favorite of mine. I don't make it often but I have had a yearning for it since St. Patrick's Day. But Richard wanted Corned Beef and Cabbage on that Sainted Day! So last night I gave in to the whim and made my Pie.

Now Shepard's Pie isn't what you would normally consider a pie, since it doesn't have a pie shell. Instead it has a layer or crust of Mashed Potatoes on top of it. Sometimes I make it very cheesy, but last night I felt like going a bit more simple. And here it is:

Rose's Lamby Shepard Pie

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet Onions, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tblsp Butter (Goat Butter)

1 lb Ground Lamb
2 Large stalks Celery, Diced
20 baby carrots, diced
2 large mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup Goat Milk
2 Tblsp Unbleached Flour

2 Cups Potato Flakes
1 1/4 Cup Water
3 Tblsp Butter (I used Goat Butter)
1 Cup Goat Milk
1/4 cup Grated Romano Cheese (I normally use Pecorino Roman which is sheep milk)
Salt & Pepper to taste
(I added a Tblsp chives & of Parsley and 1 Tblsp of Garlic Powder for extra flavor)

Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees.

In large skillet on medium low melt the butter and add the onions. Let simmer until onions start to get clear then add the garlic and salt and pepper lightly. (If you want to get fancy you can pour a bit of vermouth or vodka over the onions at this point. The liquid will steam off, but the flavor is incredible. This helps bring the sugar out of the onions and they carmelize beautifully)
Remove the onion and garlic mix to let stand for a bit while you put the lamb into this nicely seasoned skillet. Turn the heat up a bit and break up the lamb so that it will cook evenly. Add the carrots, celery and mushrooms and let cook down til they have a chance to start tenderizing.
In a bowl add the milk to the flour and stir til smooth. Pushing the meat mixture aside in your pan, start to pour in the milk mixture and let it heat to a boil and thicken, creating a nice sauce. At this point add the onion mixture and cook for another 5 minutes adding more salt and pepper.
Pour this entire mix into a pregreased deep casserole dish and set aside.

In a Medium pot bring the butter, water and salt & pepper to a boil. Remove from the heat and start adding the potato flakes and milk stirring continuously until well blended. Add a bit more potato flakes if you want to make thicker. Add in the parsley, chives and garlic to season if using them. Add in the Romano Cheese and stir til melted in.

Put the potatoes over the top of the lamb mixture in the casserole and make sure it covers all the way around to the edges. I like the potatoes to be at least an inch thick. Thicker if I have enough. I then will top with more Romano cheese that I just grate right over the top. About a 1/4 cup. Put the casserole into the oven and cook for 10 minutes at 375 then turn it down to 350 and let cook another 30 minutes or until top gets a lightly golden crust.

...Just a note, you can prepare this ahead of time and cover the casserole and refrigerate overnight before cooking. This makes it great as a prepare ahead dish for parties. I usually let it cook 10 minutes longer to bring it fully up to heat when done this way.

Serves 4-6 people.

That long awaited Mac and Cheese...

Well, as you can guess I haven't posted for a while. I came down with the flu and Asthma at the same time. I had a rough few weeks and am still coughing, but mostly over it. So now to the recipe...

Ultra Creamy Mac and

Ingredients:

1 package of pasta of choice (I love Rotini best) Cooked and drained

1 large Vidalia or Sweet Onion, Chopped

1 TBSP Goat Butter

1/2 lb Manchego Cheese, Grated

1/2 lb Goat Gouda, Grated

1 3 oz pkg Chevre (with Pepadew if you can find it)

2 oz Goat Butter

1/4 cup flour (I like unbleached but I have used Rice flour too)

2 cups Goat Milk (Meyenburg now has a 2% for the weight concious)

(Alternately, when out of milk I have used chicken stock which makes the flavor very rich)

1/2 Cup Manchego & Goat Gouda shredded together

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

(Optional, you can add veggies, diced chicken, shrimp or stew meat to this to make it a full meal.)

First I put the pasta in boiling water and cook until it is Aldente, drain, toss with a bit of olive oil and put into a deep casserole that I presprayed with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large skillet I melt 1 Tbsp Goat Butter and add the chopped onion. Saute slowly to carmelize the onions. Once Carmelized, add to pasta and stir.

In a medium saucepan heat the 2 Tbsp Goat Butter and Chevre til melted and add the flour whisking rapidly to blend quickly and allow to come to light boil. Slowly add the 2 cups of Goat Milk (Or Stock) whisking continuously and let heat back to a light boil as this begins to thicken up again. Start stirring in the grated cheeses and continue to stir until everything is melted and smooth.

**At this point, if I am going to add veggies or meat I do now. I like peas with white meat of chicken. But I have used broccoli too. The fanciest I made was with Fresh Asparagras lightly steamed and chopped up and Shrimp.

Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and onions and stir well to blend together. Cover the top with the final 1/2 cup of cheese. Put the casserole into the oven and cook for 20 minutes or until the top has gotten lightly golden. Remove and let sit for at least 20 minutes before cutting into the casserole. This lets the cheese sauce to set up and when you cut in all the cheese won't run out.

serves 6-8

Side Note: If you need to make this in advance for a dinner, I suggest making the sauce ahead of time. Don't add it to the pasta until the day of the dinner and baking then. Pasta will keep absorbing liquid and cause your creamy Mac and Cheese to be just a lot of Pasta Glue that is a bit dry.