Fast & Easy Archives - Page 13 of 15

April 28, 2013 Amy

Happy Sunday, fellow Foodies:

Boy, have I been busy today! I’ve been baking, I’ve been cooking, I’ve been washing. We had some good rain last night, and even had gravel-sized hail for a little while. I thought my neighbor’s lovable pug wanted to come in and get at the cat food again. Hoping for lots of basil so I can pack my freezer with pesto this year. Supposed to rain all week, so I’ll be extra careful on the short drive to and from the park and ride.

The dishwasher is running for the second time today, and while I put out garbage yesterday morning, I also had to put it out again a little while ago. I sewed most of the day yesterday, as well as made a pot of chili. I finished some handmade gifts and a little repair work, and will finish that shirt and suit next weekend. But before I tell you about today’s cooking spree, let me tell you about something fishy I read in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal. . . .

The European Seafood Exposition was recently held in Belgium, and, if I read it correctly, it is to current trends in seafood is what the Houston Metro Cooking & Entertaining Show is to food and cooking. I think. (I went in 2011 and had a blast; nearly everything I sampled was either chocolate, garlic or olive oil.) Fish wasn’t exactly on the menu at this conference, but other forms of “aquatic cuisine” were available. Craig Harrison of Britain’s Big Prawn Company have been trying to win the Prix d’Elite with all sorts of, um, temptations. Creations like Fresh Seaweed in Sea Water, Black Pudding with Squid Ink and spreadable algae were available to tempt (or test the strength of) the taste buds of judges in Belgium. Oh, and one piece de resistance from last year’s contest was called simply, Jelly Shots, consisting of alcoholic seafood jelly shots with a jumbo shrimp floating in a mojito jelly. Um, what? “Mr Harrison claims that British night-clubbers fell for the drink hook, line and sinker. ‘Unfortunately, it didn’t sway the judges.'”

NOOOOOO. You think????? Maybe it was the alcohol the night clubbers had BEFORE the Jelly Shots, which the judges didn’t have the benefit of?

Then there is the “oceanic greenery” they want to start calling “sea veg.” In other words, seaweed. And now, because “French beaches are strewn with it,” Christine Le Tennier of SAS Globe Export is harvesting and promoting “gourmet algae.”

Algae is what develops in your swimming pool when you forget to put the chlorine in it. “Gourmet algae” is like like “clean dirt.” You can have it.

Now look–I love shrimp, crab, crawfish, regular fish, and the occasional scallop as much as the next seafood fan. But I can sum this article up for you in one word.

EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW.

Reminded of the songs my brother has frequently written (or re-written) about my cooking, I sent him the column. Let’s see what comes back.

So, my goal is not to have to cook at all this week, except maybe for some breakfast, and I’ll think about that soon, too. My toaster oven has been baking nearly all day, and I have completed, since 8:00 am, the following:

1 loaf “Stout Bread” from The Joy of Gluten Free Sugar Free Baking, a gift for a friend
1 recipe Lemon Poppy Tea Cake from Babycakes, also a gift for the same friend
1 recipe Yeast Free Brownies (sweetened with Somersweet)
6 roasted chicken thighs (in the freezer since last July)
1 large Meatloaf from The Wheat Belly Cookbook with ground chicken instead of ground beef (otherwise made to spec)
1 packet of thin steaks

Not included is a pot of chili made yesterday and a small spaghetti squash I roasted yesterday, all for lunch and dinner this week. Glad I finished the last of the Spicy Shrimp Marinara, too.

I’m thinking baked eggs and some kind of meat with it. I’ll think about it some more. Since the yeast-free diet is coming soon, I’ll have to think carefully, since so many things are verboten, like cheese, butter and milk.

Oh, and in order to make that meatloaf, I had to go out and get a few things: one carrot, some celery, and. . .tomato juice, which I have never bought in my life. But I do it, ’cause I don’t mess with the recipes the first time I make them. I didn’t go to my my HEB, or even Kroger. No, I went to our neighborhood Food Town. . .and if you are in Houston, you know what that is–local, and basic, No almond milk, gluten free anything or sugar snap peas, but lots of biscuits, pizza and ice cream. It’s close, so I went. I didn’t take a picture, but they had something called Tastykake Dreamies, which look suspiciously like. . . Twinkies! No, I didn’t buy any, even though they were not expensive. But with all the hoopla surrounding the end and the new beginning of Twinkies, obviously it wasn’t long before someone got the idea to replicate them while they were away. Let’s see what happens when Twinkies begin to populate grocery and convenience store shelves again. Holy Shish Kebab.

Well, that’s the capitalist free market system, isn’t it? Give the customer what they want, customers vote with their dollars, and the best one will win. If the Dreamies taste as good, or better, than original Twinkies, then they’ll be the favored brand. If not, they will be bought once, and if they are found to be inferior, then, nobody will buy them and wait for the Twinkies. If the new Twinkies are bad, then the market is open for someone else to “build a better Twinkie.” It’s that simple.

Yes, in America, we take our junk food VERY seriously the way the French take their wine and escargot seriously. That’s what makes us a great country!!

Anyway. . . .

I had planned to utilize a crock pot today, but I never got around to it, so that’s one less thing to wash up. That’s OK, I’ve gone through some soap this weekend!

I started doing the weekly cooking/ironing on Sunday back when I was a student at Tulane and worked 40 hours a week. THEN I went to work for Tulane while I was a student, and made a salary, had regular employee health insurance, paid holidays, and eventually, an employee tuition waiver. I had to take Sundays for setting up for the week, because I didn’t have time to get all that done in the morning, especially if I got home at 10:00 or 11:00 pm at night, which I did frequently. If I went to bed late one night, I didn’t get to catch up until Saturday. (Nobody seemed to understand that for a long time.)

Even though I’d mostly kept it up while I was unemployed, I still did some cooking during the week. Now, this may not work with large families, or even couples–but for me it works like a charm. If you’re thinking about how to make it work for you, a crock pot would work wonders, IMHO–but you gotta do what works for you. Freezer meals may be what you come up with, and a lot of people do it that way–either on the weekend or making “one extra” of something and stashing it in the freezer.

In any case, I highly recommend “cooking ahead,” especially if you are of the busy sort. If it’s just you and a spouse and y’all aren’t picky, well. . .but if you’ve got a schedule of any kind and not much time to cook, carving out a few hours and/or putting out that crock pot is essential.

And let’s face it–how nice is it to come home, take your shoes off, get comfy and heat up a home-cooked dinner? Yeah, I Know, you can just buy frozen dinners . . .well, if you want to. Me, I’m gonna keep pushing the limits of my kitchen and having home cooked dinners ’til I can’t cook anymore. (Remember that Julia Child cooked after the age of 90, although she wasn’t make Boueof Bourignon anymore.)

Now onto the wardrobe setup for the week with our rainy, somewhat chilly Houston weather this week.

Happy Dining!

Considered opinions,Fast & Easy,Ingredients,New Trends,What's for Dinner?

Cappuccino and salad days

April 11, 2013 Amy

Hello, again, Dear Readers:

Here at HeatCageKitchen, we strive to bring you the hip new trends in cooking and kitchen stuff. Up-to-date tricks and of-the-moment trends that you just can’t live without whether you’re just starting to cook or have been in your kitchen for a long time. The goal is to bring you these new trends that you just need to know before your friends know.

“Try” being the operative word.

I’ve got an update on my cappuccino machine and a new idea that crossed my Facebook path that I’ve got to tell you about. If you haven’t heard about this already. Your friends will be amazed. Keep reading. . .

So, I was thinking that although it would be lovely to go out and buy a brand, spanking new cappuccino machine, the thrifty side of me says, no, it’s just the frothing part that doesn’t wanna work anymore. I have on occasion seen hand-held milk frothers in different places. This evening, for the project I’m about to tell you about, I headed to Cost Plus World Market and discovered that they have these little babies at $2.99 each. They run on 2 AA batteries (like nearly everything else I own, right?) and they froth up milk. They don’t HEAT milk, they only froth it up. Online, they sell them in a set of 3 for $8.97, but in the store they sell them individually. I bought the green one, the first one the clerk handed me. I headed to Target to get a big 20-pack of AA batteries.

You never know when the milk frother is going to go out. Or the TV remote. Or the flameless candles on my altar. Or some other little thing that uses batteries. I used to carry a Sony Walkman–yes, a cassette player, and later, one with a radio–in the pre-iPod days. And I can tell you that the batteries that lasted the longest were coppered, so that’s what I buy. And nobody paid me to say that. Anyway. . .

So I put some milk in a measuring cup and warmed it in the microwave, then used the handheld milk frother to froth up the milk. It worked perfectly, and for $2.99, I now have perfectly frothy milk again when I make cappuccino. Woo hoo!

Wal-Mart also had an electric milk frothing pitcher, but that one was $35. Very nice, of course, but that’s OK. I’ll continue to steam the milk and then use the little battery powered frothers. That’s perfectly OK with me!

OK. . .now. . .this is a most momentus thing I’ve discovered, and it’s cheap. I LOVE salad, and yes, iceberg lettuce as well as Romaine, butter and red-leaf lettuce, but it tends to go bad on me, even when I keep on it. I hate that, so as a result, I don’t buy it too often.

A solution has been found. I am testing this as I type this.

Lettuce stored in Mason jars, or “Salad In A Jar.”

Let me say first that this is NOT my own idea, but the brilliant idea of one Paula Rhodes, who has a website. . .Salad-In-A-Jar.com. No kidding. I came across the idea, as many, on Facebook. Such a simple idea, but you absolutely MUST seal the jar and get all the air out to prevent browning of the lettuce.

Naturally, this wonderful lady is in Arlington, in the great state of Texas. (I’m in Houston, I can say that.)

Another idea where I wish I’d thought of it, but. . .well, you know I’m not smart enough for that. (I went to college at night.) Well, I did figure out that Scrubbing Bubbles will clean your kitchen cabinets and other surfaces by melting off the dirt. That’s another blog post.

On my trek out I went first to Cost Plus World Market for the jars, which are $2.49 there. I also have a couple of jars that I kept after the Classico Tomato and Basil is gone. The process is the same for both types of jars, but there is an essential step that you must do. You MUST vacuum seal the jars and get all the air out.

I am not suggesting you get one of those expensive Food Saver sealing thingies, although if you have one, you have an advantage, there is an attachment for wide-mouth jars and a tube for this purpose. Maybe one day I’ll get me one, but for now, I just want cheap.

That’s the real secret of HeatCageKitchen. Livin’ on the edge (of the kitchen). Cheap.

So if you’ve ever seen those Ziploc vacuum seal bags, well, there’s a vacuum pump tool that comes in the starter kit, runs about $4 or $5. Well. . .the directions are to wash and spin-dry your lettuce, chop it, put it in the glass jar, put the lid(s) on it, put a small hole in the top with a pushpin, put a small piece of electrical tape over the hole (don’t seal it), and use the vacuum tube to pull the air out.

VOILA! Sealed up lettuce! (I think I messed up a total of four pushpins, but that’s what Staples is for.)

Best part–you can make salad for a whole week like this! Put the dressing in the bottom, and the lettuce on top, with heavier ingredients like hard boiled eggs, sliced tomatoes, etc, in the bottom. The picture is from Mayra Cavazos, and this what she posted on Facebook:

Utterly brilliant, people. Not only does SALAD IN A JAR save space in your fridge, it also reduces food waste and gets non-salad eaters (me) to mow down daily.
THE ARRANGEMENT
From BOTTOM to TOP:
Dressing
Shredded carrots
Cherry tomatoes
Sunflower seeds
Hard boiled eggs
Baby spinach
DIRECTIONS
1) Arrange ingredients in a large mason jar
2) Store in fridge for up to a week
3) When ready to eat: shake jar, place on a plate, and eat!

You can make any arrangement you want… you can add red onion, cucumbers, radishes or peppers. Always remember to put the dressing at the bottom and the lettuce at the top—a MUST.

****NOTE**** If your making a few salads at a time for the week, you MUST remember to vacuum seal the Mason Jars. (Mason jars can be bought at Wal-mart, and various grocery stores) They must be vacuum sealed to remain fresh and crisp 🙂 Here are two different ways to vacuum seal a mason jar 😀
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhb1gfVSB9Y
Non Foodsaver vacuum seal 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/

If you’re having trouble wrapping your brain around this idea, take a look at Mayra’s picture she posted on Facebook and see if it makes sense:

Is that not the coolest idea ever? And it’s SO SIMPLE.

So in the HeatCage Test Kitchen (ha, ha) I have purchased said Ziploc vacuum tool at Wal-Mart, as well as jars and the milk frother at Cost Plus World Market, and lettuce (and a few other things) at Target. (I went to Target first, they didn’t have it, darnit.) I have three sealed jars of lettuce in the fridge, right now, and am thoroughly excited about this.

Simple, using readily available modern conveniences. I love it, and am hoping for the best on my end, too. I’ll let you know what happens next.

Since I my life will be soon become very busy, this will be a great help for my weekly food prep. You see, since I was a full-time working student at Tulane University (1991-1996), I do all my weekly cooking and wardrobe prep on Sunday, so that I don’t have to do as much during the week. (The crock pot cooking helps a lot, too, especially if I didn’t get it all done in time.) When I was getting home late at night, that Sunday ritual was a lifesaver. If I missed one thing, my whole week was messed up. Bad.

Salad, much as I love it, hasn’t been a staple for me, since I don’t buy it as much, it turns brown so fast on me. I’m hoping this experiment will work. I do love salad, and hate throwing anything out.

You can read all about it at Paula Rhodes’ Salad In A Jar website, plus lots of other of her recipes and ideas. (You can bet I’m subscribing now!) You can also see her video on YouTube doing exactly what I described.

Cross your fingers. This is the best thing to cross my path in a long time. (OK, this week.)

If you try this, let me know how your experiment turned out.

Happy Dining!

Fast & Easy,Health & Wellness,Ingredients,New Trends,What's for Dinner?

Comfort food, anyone?

February 23, 2013 Amy

Good evening, Dear Readers:

I’m kind of tired tonight, but last night I hit the bed early and actually got some sleep. Not all night, woke up a couple of times, and I really appreciated Jezebel the step-kitty’s insistence that I do some laundry today. Especially the duvet. Especially after her early-morning retching.

So I’m a bit tired. But I thought I’d offer some comfort to you this evening.

Today on The Food Network was quite a bit of what’s called “comfort foods.” The Barefoot Contessa had things like “Midnight Spaghetti” and “Sunday Morning Oatmeal,” as well as from another chef, “Kimchi Fried Rice,” which included the Korean delicacy, rice, and a fried egg on top. Trisha Yearwood brought husband Garth Brooks into the kitchen, making very sophisticated and un-countrified food. The Pioneer Woman had a great looking beef stew and some creamy, cheesey grits. I haven’t had grits in years because of the high carb content, but that was enough to make me think about some. And, bless her heart, Giada de Laurentiis did some ravioli with pesto and a combo meatloaf/eggplant thingy that made me yell at the TV–because that stupid eggplant ruins the meatloaf, Dawlin’.

What else did Giada make? Let’s put it this way–if someone brought this cake to an activity, and Giada was there, I’d move her (and anyone else) out of the way to get to it. Anything with chocolate and raspberry in the same place risks that outcome. Chocolate and raspberry together is just my absolute favorite thing. Except maybe in chili. Nigella Lawson also has a Chocolate-Raspberry Heart cake in her book Feast. Fortunately, I haven’t had either one, and I likely won’t, because I won’t be able to resist making it way too often. (I get chocolate-raspberry decaf coffee beans, though.)

So to offer some of my less dangerous comfort foods, let’s start with Bacon Tomato Hash from the lovely Nigella Lawson. Simple to make, and satisfies, even without the bread (which is how I eat it, naturally.) When she did this recipe on her show, she’s coming in from a night out, pads up the stairs in heels, and tosses her purse and very long pearlesque clip earrings on the kitchen counter before starting. I’d made this many times before, but a few years ago, I had a long Friday night and did the same thing, except I didn’t take off my very high-heeled shoes in the kitchen.

It was my birthday, and although I’d gone out to dinner with friends, it was nearly 1 am, it was chilly, and I was hungry. I thought, what’s open at 1 am? Whataburger and Wal-Mart, right in the same spot. Didn’t want a burger, because, after all, I’d had tortellini, my birthday indulgence. So I went into Wal-Mart and got bacon, tomatoes and fresh parsley, Unfortunately, I was dressed in a little black dress, high heels, and a fabulous evening poncho, so I garnered some very odd looks from a big, burly dude on a Harley. He never said a word, just watched me walk in, and watched me walk out to my car. I made it home safely, and had some of that hash and read the paper until about 3 am.

Three summers ago, I contracted some kind of funky flu bug that, I’m told, came back from Russia with some of the Shuttle people. Ugh. Two weeks I was sidelined, and *tried* to work from home. Thankfully, my boss was on travel and mostly gone, and I took care of stuff by phone. But I mean it, I had the whole bit–fever, fatigue, coughing, congestion. I had a boyfriend at the time, and wouldn’t let him come around because I didn’t want him getting sick, either. I’d just started growing basil, and kept telling myself I’d make pesto with it one day soon. Lucky me, Nigella came to the rescue again with this Pea Pesto Soup.. Now, I had a reason to make that pesto, and I’ve been making it ever since–just to make this soup all winter long. The picky boyfriend thought I was nuts, and then he got a taste of it and started asking for it. Naturally, I use the home made pesto, but if you want to buy it, get the stuff in the refrigerated case. It freezes well, and you can make four batches of soup with it.

That was also the week I also fell in love with Def Leppard all over again. Hey–if you were flat on your back with fever, to weak to move much and 45 pounds of cat sleeping on top of you in the middle of summer watching VH-1 Classic, you would too. But that’s another story.

I actually gave a jar of pesto as a last-minute birthday gift for a coworker when I got caught short one day. She loved it, and the soup recipe, too.

Yet another easy Nigella recipe (sorry, these are my favorites) is Pollo alla Cacciatora, which is a quick-and-dirty version of Chicken Cacciatore. I fell in love with Cannellini beans making this and a few other recipes, too. Speaking of which. . .yet another Nigella recipe–Steak with White Bean Mash! Had it just last night, and it too is from Nigella Express.

Ok, so what if you’re not a Food Network junkie? Well, this Yeast-Free Cupcake is good enough to satisfy anyone who likes cake, without the usual white-sugar-and-flour rush. I have a preference for Suzanne Somers’ Somersweet, but if you mess with the sweetener, you’ll have to try it and see how it works. I don’t know if agave syrup will work. This Yeast Free CoffeeCake is also good, but you’ll have to have garbanzo bean flour around. (Which, of course, I have–I think.) Haven’t made it in a while because I keep going to the cupcake recipe. Needless to say, it’s good. And I’ve told you about the yummy, rich Yeast Free Brownies, which I have yet to get around to making again.

Lately I’ve taken to using my mandolin to thinly slice sweet potatoes, put them in a dish in the fridge and let them dry out, then put them in the small oven with some olive oil and salt and let them cook til they’re drier and crispy. That’s good, too. Since I have the convection setting on it, I like to speed things up a bit.

Now if you like salad, when I was working, my favorite Single Girl Payday Meal was a big steak salad. By that I mean I would get some salad things (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sugar snap peas and whatever else looked good in produce that day) and a flat-iron steak. Kroger sells them in big long steaks, so that’s what I would get. Of course I wouldn’t eat the entire steak in one sitting, but I would cook the whole thing. So I get one of my big Tupperware eatin’ trays, arrange my salad, then make the dressing from one of Suzanne Somers’ books:

6 T extra virgin olive oil

3 T lemon or lime juice

2 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Put that in a blender (I like the immersion type) and emulsify it. Just that easy.

Now deal with the steak: I also use one of those hand-held mechanical tenderizers to go over it on both sides, then salt/pepper the beast. (If it doesn’t fit in your pan, cut it to size, or just cut it into your favorite size, pack and freeze the rest.) Get that pan screaming hot and throw some olive oil in it. Once it’s hot, put the steak in and IMMEDIATELY turn down the heat to about medium, and let it cook, long as you like. When it’s no longer adhered to the pan, turn it. When it’s cooked where you want it, take it out and let it rest for five minutes or so. Then slice it up against the grain and top your salad with it. Salad dressing completes this masterpiece.

No, I do NOT use bottled dressing. Yuck. Make your own. You have a blender, don’t you? Just wash it really good when you’re done with it. Start with that recipe.

I have to say that flat iron steaks are my favorite, but I like other cuts, too. Yes, NY Strip steak, but also sirloin and chuck. I don’t know that I have a “least favorite cut of beef.”

Wait–yes I do. Beef tongue.

On that note, I’m going to bed.

Happy Dining!

Considered opinions,Fast & Easy,What's for Dinner? Dinner

The Obligatory V-D posting

February 12, 2013 Amy

Hello, Dear Readers:

Happy Mardi Gras. No, I’m not in New Orleans, I just know some folks are and are out on the town wearing green, gold and purple in the only place that look works.

I’ve been busy with a number of things lately, and I have a new recipe and one or two other postings to write about soon. But this being Valentine’s Day week, and Jezebel the step-kitty sitting by my side, I guess I’d better post something chocolatey.

Why am I unattached? My first love is chocolate, that’s why.

If you’re in NYC, here’s a little fun on V-D that you’ll need reservations for: the Valentine’s Day Sewage Tour. Say WHAT? And it fills up fast–no pun intended. What, do you do that before, or AFTER that fancy restaurant dinner? Romance, indeed.

The best Valentine’s Day card I ever got was literally 20 years ago from a guy I’ll call “Football” (because he was shaped like one.) Football got me a card that had a cartoon drawing of a classically handsome male on the front that he’d carefully drawn a mustache onto and thoughtfully blacked out one of the front teeth. It said, “What does it mean when a handsome man brings you flowers and candy on Valentine’s Day and then takes you out to a French restaurant for dinner?” When you opened it, the card said, “Your alarm clock hasn’t gone off yet.”

Yes. . .that is, to this day, the best card I’ve ever received from a bloke. Thanks, Football, wherever you are today.

I have ordered some more SomerSweet, finally, so I hope to make some Yeast Free Brownies soon. Maybe for Valentine’s Day if it arrives on time. The difference is that I don’t have to share with anybody. When I did share some with a couple of neighbors last summer, they were VERY well received.

I make them without the toasted pumpkin seeds, and for SomerSweet you’ll have to check the batter to see if it’s sweet enough. I was using 5 tablespoons of the old version, but I don’t remember how much to use of the baking version. Or you could just use Sweet N’ Natural if you wanted. This is a very healthy brownie recipe that’s so good, you’ll forget they’re better for you. Just keep them in the fridge, and let them sit out a bit before you eat them, or you’ll be paying an unscheduled visit to your dentist. (Coconut oil really hardens up in the fridge.) And there’s your first recipe.

Before I continue, here’s a fun and embarrassing story from my past. About ten years ago, I was, ahem, “living in sin” out of some necessity with a male I’ll call, for the sake of anonymity, “Rodent.” We both came down with some kind of god-awful flu bug, and all I could do was lie on the couch and watch TV with him–for a week. My preferred viewing was the newly discovered Food Network. You see, I did not have cable in many years, and he had every freakin’ channel on the planet. So there I was watching Food Network for days and days while I tried to get over fever and the rest of it.

It just happened to be that Valentine’s Day was on Saturday that year, and The Food Network dubbed it Chocolate Obsession Week. All week long, all kinds of chocolate recipes for the best Valentine’s Day ever. I couldn’t get enough. I couldn’t get any chocolate either, because both of us were so sick.

So after several days, my fever broke, because I went to Rodent’s home office where he was tapping away and said, “I’m hungry–what’s for dinner?” There was no way either of us were in any shape to do any cooking, so he was going to do the takeout thing again. (I think we’d done pizza once or twice, too, but no cooking.) He asked, “what do you feel like eating?” I said, “chocolate!” He turned around, looked at me and said, “No more Food Network for you!”

With THAT picture in mind–if Valentine’s Day to you brings up visions of fancy restaurants, chocolates, flowers, romance, and all that other stuff. . .this one was cold medicines, aspirin, and blankets. At least Rodent has a “fake-me-out” gas fireplace that was nice and warm while we had fever.

And, today we’re friends miles apart.

Here’s another one on the pumpkin seeds I leave out: a few months ago I discovered that I had some pumpkin seeds in the back of my pantry that had been there for years. I also had the idea that they were still good, too. I used a toasted spiced recipe from an old cookbook and, well, within a half-hour I discovered that no, pumpkin seeds do NOT stay good in your pantry indefinitely. It didn’t take long for the nausea to set in, and let’s leave it at that.

Now, it wouldn’t be right if a food blogger didn’t at least mention some chocolate recipes this week, and I’ve got a few that just might fit your tastes.

First up, one of two recipes by Nigella Lawson, the Chocolate Cloud Cake. I saw her do this one one of her shows and had to try it. I used unsweetened chocolate and melted it with SomerSweet, and it worked perfectly. I had it for dessert all week after I saw it. I only made it once, but I still remember it well.

Tyler Florence has a similar recipe called Chocolate Cracked Earth, another flourless chocolate cake, which is also quite good. Again, made it one time with SomerSweet, loved it, and that was it.

The second Nigella recipe is from Forever Summer, (now published in the US as Nigella Fresh.) Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova is as pretty as it is delicious, and isn’t a terribly difficult thing to make. I made it a few years ago when I was invited to an “all girls” Valentine’s Day dinner, again, on a Saturday night. (Shortly thereafter, I met another gent, who I’ll call “Blob.” We’ve split up and are not in touch.) I made this to spec, since it was intended for a number of people who would likely not care that it was made without sugar. One slight alteration I did was to use a heart shaped pan to draw the shape on the parchment, and baked it that way. Otherwise, it’s the same. I had a picture of it somewhere, but I can’t put my hands on it. This, too, is memorable, and I would make again if I had the occasion, heart shaped or no.

Is your honey-baby gluten-intolerant? Or do you just want something just a little less involved, but equally tasty so you can show your love to someone?

I’ve already told you about my love for the wonderful Larabars, and a couple of years ago they posted some recipes on Facebook for the holidays. Unfortunately, they’re gone, but I found it on RecipeLion, so you can make them too. For Valentine’s Day, the simple, delicious Gluten Free Black Forest Parfaits are easy with Cherry Pie Larabars (you could also use the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte version), whipped cream, melted chocolate, and a few other simple ingredients. You could use agave syrup in place of honey, if you like. I made this for myself a few years ago for Christmas, when the recipes first appeared on Facebook. I’m glad I took screenshots and printed it, but I can’t find the file. Note: the whipping cream should be 2/3 cup, but use as much as you like.

I even have two chocolate dessert recipes perfect for Valentine’s Day if your honey is vegan with a sweet tooth! NO, I am NOT switching sides. I just love my sweets.

The first one, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Pudding, is actually really good, but takes some time to chill and set. The reason I tried this was because I bought something online and a sample of chia seeds came with it. Had NO idea what to do with them, but a little searching yielded this recipe. It’s actually really good, and I couldn’t help myself, so it didn’t last long. But since I don’t normally buy chia seeds. . .I haven’t made it since. Maybe I should.

The second one, Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse, is also really good, but note that it takes a while because you have to soak the raw cashews for six hours, then you have to chill it a while after blending. Yes, it’s worth it. Admittedly, I used cocoa powder and didn’t mess with cacao nibs, but. . .I was in the mood to try it, OK?

Bonus recipe: Homemade Nutella, which is also Gluten Free. I love this stuff! Having made this a few times, I can tell you that you can buy “hazelnut flour” in some places, (finely ground hazelnuts) and you can use it as a shortcut instead of toasting hazelnuts here. Just measure it out and go for it with the food processor. Like the stuff in the jar, it’s a spread-on kind of condiment, but I’ve been known to eat this in a small pinch bowl with a spoon. It is VERY thick and sticky, but is REALLY delicious, without a lot of chemicals.

And there you go–something for everyone for Valentine’s Day.

No, I am not doing gift suggestions, unless you want to go and buy an assortment of Larabars or something. But that’s up to you.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Enjoy!

Desserts,Fast & Easy,Holidays,Special Occasions

Dinner tonight, kale and cannellini beans

January 16, 2013 Amy

Hi, again:

OK, I found something else to pass along–dinner. I had another “light” dish from the Everyday Food Light cookbook. This one is on page 329, Sausages with Kale and White Beans. (You can find the recipe online here.) I’ve never had kale before, but I have to say, cooked as long as it did, it’s not bad. I’ll try using kale again one day. At 99 cents for a large bunch, it’s certainly affordable.

I decided to pull two packets of sausages out of the freezer (the stuff I bought on sale recently), but they weren’t the same thing. One was turkey brats, the other was some chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and asiago, I think–the Market Pantry brand from Target. So when I finished, I split them up–each serving had one of each in it.

And, this is what it looks like when it’s done:

Pretty simple, just broiling the sausages in the countertop oven (you do have one, right?) and then cooking the kale on top the stove with garlic and a half cup of water until it’s wilted all the way down. Then toss in two tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a can of rinsed cannellini beans. It’s not haute cuisine, but it’s a pretty good dinner done in a half hour or so. Not bad.

I should also mention that I just LOVE cannellini beans. If you’re not familiar with them–and I wasn’t until a few years ago–they’re white kidney beans, frequently imported from Italy. One of my favorite ways to use them is in this amazingly delicious white bean mash. I’ve also used Great Northern or White Navy beans, but that’s only because I grabbed them by mistake. Those beans are OK, and they’ll work in this recipe, but. . .just not as good as cannellini.

A few years ago when I evacuated to New Orleans for Hurricane Ike, I brought two or three cans of cannellini beans with me so I could make another Everyday Food recipe for my friends. Why? Because you can’t *get* cannellini beans in New Orleans, at least, not that I could find. Then again, I didn’t do lots of grocery shopping, and didn’t feel like explaining myself to a demo lady who got mad at me because I know how to properly pronounce “gelato.”

This too, is an Everyday Food recipe that appeared in the Houston Chronicle on April 16, 2008. How do I know this? I kept the paper–because it’s never been in the magazine or on their website, darnit. But it’s SOOOOO good. This is the *salad* of enlightenment:

White-Bean and Olive Salad

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (Creole mustard is also really good in this)

Coarse salt and ground black pepper

2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved

In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil and mustard; season with salt and pepper. Add beans, onion and olives; toss to combine.

Happy Dining!

Cookbooks,Fast & Easy,What's for Dinner? Dinner,EverydayFood,salad,sausage

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