Green beans with shiitake mushrooms

I have never, ever (ever!) liked the traditional green bean casserole served so often during the holiday season. You know, the one with the French fried onions and cream of mushroom soup? Maybe it's the tradition part that makes it a favorite with some. Most of my life I just skipped eating green beans at Thanksgiving.

The one and only year I've ever had a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine was the first year I was married. And that year they offered up this gem of a recipe for green beans with shiitake mushrooms.

I hosted that year (my first-time ever doing that) and without hesitation I ousted the traditional green bean casserole and made this instead.

We have never looked back. Everyone loved it. Fresh green beans, fresh shiitake mushrooms, butter. It is delightful.

This dish cooks fairly quickly. It's usually the last thing I make so I can serve it hot with the green beans still crisp.

Green Beans with Shiitake Mushrooms
3/4 stick (6 tbsp) butter*
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced
2 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs slender green beans, trimmed
2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add shiitake mushrooms and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
Transfer mushrooms to medium bowl.
Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in same skillet.
Add shallots and garlic and saute until tender, about 2 minutes.
Add green beans and toss to coat with butter.
Pour broth over green bean mixture.
Cover and simmer until liquid evaporates and green beans are crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.
Stir in shiitake mushrooms.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Best if served immediately.

image from epicurious.com

*This year I will be using Earth Balance soy free natural buttery spread in place of butter, making this meal dairy-free. It's naturally gluten-free assuming a gluten-free chicken broth is used.

Cranberry sauce you'll gobble up

This cranberry sauce? Right up there? Oh my god, you guys. This sauce is awesome.

Now, I could do a whole intro-to-the-recipe thing about how I never liked cranberries, but when I first got married and started making Thanksgiving dinners, I felt like it was important to include as many traditional foods as possible, and how I found this particular recipe in Sunset magazine (which I used to be completely in love with, despite there being essentially no relationship between it and the reality of my life) and tried it because it was one of the few recipes they had that didn't involve some technique or ingredient I'd never heard of, and then fell completely in love, said love being eclipsed, however, by Baroy's love for it. (He eats it by the heaping tablespoon, all by itself.) But I'm not going to tell that story...OK, I'm not going to tell any MORE of that story.

Instead, I'm just going to say this: Cranberry sauce can be something more than an overlooked, out-of-the-can accompaniment to the turkey and a potential stain on that special white linen tablecloth. No, seriously. This stuff? It's goooood. It's noticeably, ridiculously good. (I blame the vanilla. Actually, I'm pretty much convinced that anything with vanilla in it can't actually taste bad. But maybe that's just me.)

Cranberry Sauce (adapted from Sunset magazine, November 1995; Sunset adapted it from a recipe given to them by the folks at the Lark Creek Inn in Northern California)

2 bags of cranberries (24 ounces total, or 6 cups)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon vanilla

First, a disclaimer. Because of how much my family adores this cranberry sauce, and because we often have a dozen or more people to Thanksgiving dinner, I usually make three or four bags of cranberries, increasing the amounts of the ingredients as needed, and then tweaking them to taste. (By the way, you can use either fresh or frozen cranberries for this sauce. I tend to buy them fresh(ish) in a bag; I buy a whole bunch and freeze the ones I won't use for Thanksgiving for future dinners.)

Second, an explanation. We live in Southern California. There are two prolific lemon trees in my backyard. I am cheap. Hence, the mere idea of buying lemon juice makes me die a little inside. Instead, when the trees are bearing fruit, I make sure to juice as many of the ripe lemons as possible before they go bad, and then I freeze whatever juice I don't use immediately into little citrusy ice cubes. So, those orange ice-cube trays up there? Are my equivalent of store-bought lemons or lemon juice. Unless you live nearby, your mileage will probably vary.

Now, on with the instructions:

1. Put cranberries, both kinds of sugar, orange and lemon juices, and cinnamon into a pot; bring all to a simmer.

2. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally. The cranberries will (and should) start to burst open. Keep simmering and keep stirring until most if not all of the cranberries have 'popped.' The recipe says this takes 8 to 10 minutes; I don't think I've ever timed it, but I feel like it might take a little bit longer.

3. Turn off heat; take pot off burner. Stir in vanilla.

And you're done. This can be served warm (which is definitely the way I prefer it, but we've already discussed this), or it can be made ahead, chilled in the fridge in an airtight container, and served within a week.

Now that I've shown you mine, hows about you guys showing me yours: What's your favorite traditional recipe for Thanksgiving, and what do you do to it to kick it into high gear? Or, if you scoff at traditional anything, what's your favorite non-traditional Thanksgiving recipe? Spill. Now. Please? I'd be ever so thankful...

One pan sweet-and-sour pork

The weather has finally turned a bit cooler where I live (not to mention wetter, thanks to hurricane season) and I've been inspired by some yummy recipes I've read lately.  Armed with a little creativity and a smattering of great ingredients, I had hoped to create a delicious roast pork tenderloin marinated in apple cider and stuffed with wild rice, butternut squash, cranberry and apple. My family, however, had other plans.

Both my husband and my son have been taking turns with whatever flu-like illness is going around right now.  I'm fairly certain it's not H1N1 because my son is in a very high risk group and he never got it quite as bad we'd been told to expect.  Still, he was ill enough that he developed pink-eye, an ear infection and bronchitis on top of the flu.  The time I thought I would get to spend creating in the kitchen was, instead, spent wiping Nik's runny nose, taking his temperature, giving nebulizer treatments and administering a large quantity of medications —by mouth, ears and eyes.

Sadly, as many of you know, there's no rest for the mama and the show meals must go on!  I had to use the pork or lose it; it had been in the fridge past the point where I felt comfortable freezing it for later use.  I had very little time to improvise and I've been craving Chinese food for a long time now (I cannot tolerate soy) so I decided to "scratch the itch" and concocted this one-pan sweet and sour pork which is GFCF and soy free —and so easy to make!  I must warn you that I did not really measure anything; this was a seat-of-the-pants endeavor!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs pork, cubed

1 large red onion, cut into large wedges (1/6 or 1/8 slices)

1 large green pepper, cut into slender strips

1/2 pound carrots, shredded or julienned

1 can pineapple chunks

Ginger juice or ground ginger

Ground cayenne pepper

2-3 TBSP Dark brown sugar

Rice vinegar

1/4 C seasoned flour mixture (rice flour blend mixed w/ ground ginger and ground cayenne pepper, to taste)

Water

In skillet or stock pot, brown the pork in a little bit of olive or canola oil.  If you're feeling adventurous, coat the pork in cayenne.  Add generous splashes of ginger juice (if you have it) or sprinkle with ground ginger along with some rice vinegar.  You could use soy sauce for this, too.

When the meat is done, transfer it to a bowl; you'll come back to it soon!

Toss all the veggies in the skillet/pan.  Add a slight amount of liquid to the bottom of the pan —about 1/4 inch of water, vinegar (or soy) and ginger.  Toss in brown sugar.  Stir frequently to make sure the vegetables all get coated.  Take your seasoned flour mixture and whisk it into a cup of cold water then add it to the pan.  You will think you have too much sauce in the pan.  If you don't, then add more liquid.

The flour mixture should be getting nice and thick and the onions should still have some color —don't let them get totally translucent unless you like your vegetables slightly soft.  I like to have mine slightly crunchy —al dente.

Toss in the browned pork and stir. Serve over rice. Easy peasy, right? 

For a complete meal, add some egg rolls or wonton soup, a bottle of sake and you're all set!

Some variations: 

I added some of my homemade poached plum puree for a bit of fruity tang.  (I made it for my son and had leftover.)  You could just as easily add in a little bit of applesauce.  (Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!)

Be adventurous and pair it with Kristen's delicious rice with vermicelli.

Don't like pork? Don't despair!  Substitute chicken or shrimp and you'll still have a delicious meal.  Looking for inspiration for that shrimp? Goodfountain has some yummy ideas here.

This recipe made six generous portions —enough to get two full meals and a couple of lunches for my husband to take to work.

(ETA: Disclaimer: I made my actual meal slightly differently by coating the meat in the flour mixture before browning.  The browning? Not so much. The sticky gooey mess in the pan? A LOT.  Luckily, I have pans that are a dream to clean. I DO NOT recommend this method if you are using rice flour...gets very gummy.  Trust me and do it the way I suggest...)

Baked salmon

If you were to judge by the recipes I've posted on this blog, you might think all we ever eat is seafood. Not true. But we do eat a LOT of it.

I'm lucky that both of my children seem to like it. Most of the time. We do have our hit or miss days, though, like this weekend when they both refused to eat this dish. Last time I made it though they cleaned their plates. Go figure. Fickle!

This recipe for baked salmon is one that I have been making for many, many years. I have passed it on to numerous friends and everyone always sings its praises. When we removed gluten from our diet, I knew there was no way we could do without this favorite.

So I modified it to be both gluten and casein free. I will share both versions.

These aren't precise measurements for the ingredients, so feel free to adjust to your taste.

Baked Salmon
4 Salmon fillets
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
About 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
Melted butter

Preheat oven to 400.
Rinse salmon fillets and pat dry.
Line a shallow pan with foil.

Place salmon skin side down and spread a thin layer of mustard across each fillet.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper (to taste).
Top liberally with bread crumbs and drizzle melted butter over top.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillets, until appearance is no longer translucent and flakes easily with a fork.

And now for the gluten free, dairy (casein) free version. (We actually like this version much better!)

GFCF Baked Salmon
4 Salmon fillets
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
3/4 to 1 cup crushed Rice Chex
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp melted non-dairy butter (I use soy-free Earth Balance)

Mix the Rice Chex, garlic powder, salt and pepper together. (I usually crush the Rice Chex in a plastic baggy with the spices.)

Spread thin layer of mustard on salmon fillets, top liberally with crushed cereal and drizzle the melted butter on top.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillets, until appearance is no longer translucent and flakes easily with a fork.

Of all the various ways we prepare salmon, this is our favorite. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Spaghetti with clams

I love rice, but I love pasta too. And having married into a fine Italian family, pasta is a pantry staple in our house. Whenever I have no idea what to make for dinner, I can grab a box of "macaroni",  a handful of roma tomatoes and have dinner on the table in 20 minutes.

I tend to keep roma tomatoes on hand when they are in season, but honestly, a can of whole or crushed tomatoes will get the job done nicely in a pinch.

Since I tend to do most, if not all, of our cooking for the holidays, I like to simplify our evening meals this time of year. I can't organize my grocery shopping to buy what's needed for the Thanksgiving table and make sure I have enough ingredients on hand for the other nights of the week. I'm just not that gifted. And the fridge doesn't really hold that much. Plus, when I'm thinking about turkeys and corn casseroles and roasted acorn squash and baking, baking, baking, dinner has got to be a no-brainer.

And that's why I love this meal.

Here's what you need to get started:

1 box of spaghetti, linguini or long twirl-able pasta of your choice
1-2 cans of chopped or minced clams w/ juice
4-6 roma tomatoes
generous handful of finely chopped fresh parsley
kosher salt
fresh pepper
red pepper flakes
garlic
olive oil

Put a pot of water on to boil and cook the spaghetti according to package directions.

 While the spaghetti is cooking, chop the tomatoes. I like a small-ish diced cut.

 

Once the tomatoes are chopped/diced, swirl some olive oil in a heavy pan and let it heat for about a minute. Pour in the clams and add the tomatoes and garlic to the pan. Season with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and if you like a little bite, sprinkle in some red pepper flakes.

 

 Let it simmer for about 10 minutes or so (until the pasta is cooked and the tomatoes soften), then throw in the parsley.

Take the pan off the heat. Drain the spaghetti. And mix the sauce and pasta together. I do this in the same pan I cook the sauce in, but you can use a fancy bowl if you like.

 

Sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese and enjoy!!

 

One of the nice things about this meal, is that I can hold some spaghetti aside for my son, who still prefers his serving with nothing more than butter and cheese.

A word on amounts: If you are preparing a pound of pasta, you may want to use two cans of clams and a couple extra tomatoes. Too much sauce is never a problem with this meal, but not enough can feel skimpy. The sauce is very broth-like and one my favorite things, besides sopping it up with a good piece of crusty Italian bread, is to scoop up what's left in my bowl with a spoon.

I'll probably make this once a week or so right up through the New Year.  It's the kind of thing I can throw together after a day of baking or when we need a change of pace from holiday leftovers. My mother-in-law, by the way, makes it the same way only she omits the tomatoes and the red pepper flakes. Her version is even simpler than mine and just as delicious!!

Gluten-free apple muffins

Finding a variety of simple things that my eldest daughter, who is 5, will eat in the morning has been, hmm, challenging shall we say? She used to be a great breakfast eater, but some time in the last 6 months she simply stopped being interested in morning food. Nothing enticed her.

I've made a variety of quick breads for her (banana, carrot) but she wasn't interested. "I don't like this," she proclaims, and then asks for her beloved rice cake. Yes, every day she eats a rice cake for breakfast. How borrrrring!

This week, however, I tried a recipe for apple bread, which I made into apple muffins (cupcakes to her), and I'm pleased to report that she gobbled up her muffin. I also believe it helps tremendously that I involved her in the baking process. I have more success getting her to try new things if she helps make it.

This recipe made 18 muffins. I froze the remaining ones we didn't gobble up right out of the oven. They thawed quickly in the microwave and were just as delicious.

GF Apple muffins
From a pear bread recipe from M.A.G. - Adventures in ASD and GFCF living.

2 small-medium apples, peeled, cored and grated (I used Honey Crisp)
1 1/2 cups all purpose GF baking flour
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with baking cups and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, xantham gum, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, canola oil and vanilla. Add sugar and beat well.

Add flour mixture and continue to beat until mixture is well-blended.

Fold in the grated apples (I used my Cuisinart and my apples were more shredded than grated).

Scoop mixture into muffin baking cups, filling about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool in pan on wire rack for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Biscuits...and more biscuits

There's almost nothing I love more than hot, fresh, home-made bread, straight out of the oven. Challah. Whole wheat. A crispy-crusted French loaf.

But fresh-baked bread and a 9-5ish job? Not even a bread machine can make those sorts of yeasty dreams come true on a regular basis.

Which is why I've become the ultimate biscuit fan. OK, sure. Technically? No yeast. But they're warm and flour-y, they make the house smell good, and my kids squeal with delight when they're on the menu. Plus? I can make them from scratch and still have them on the table in under half an hour.

Can you say the same thing, bread? I didn't think so.

Score one for the previously guilt-ridden working mom.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought this little ode to the biscuit would be especially appropriate. Because really, who has time to knead dough and let it rise when you've got a turkey to brine? (What? You don't brine? I'm a total convert, thanks to Alton Brown and the Food Network. Also, I'm a total masochist. But that's a subject for my other blog.)

And, just to raise the ante a bit, I'm going to throw two different biscuit recipes your way. The first is one I just tried for the first time last week, after seeing it in the weekly recipe-laden email the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen folks sent to me. (By the way. Cook's Illustrated = best cooking magazine ever. Hands down. Yes, I do have opinions, thank you very much. And since you asked, go for the online subscription. The archives are incredible.) The second is from my go-to cookbook, The Joy of Cooking. And having made them both within a couple of days of one another, I have to tell you...they're both scrumptious. Try one, try both. There's no such thing as too many biscuits.

Cream Biscuits (adapted from America's Test Kitchen video recipe)

2 cups flour (no reason--ever, that I can think of--to get bleached flour, folks; go for the all-purpose unbleached)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
approximately 1-1/4 cups heavy cream

The ATK folks like these biscuits because they're really easy to throw together, what with not having any butter to cut in and worry about lying around in too-big chunks. Personally, I don't think there's such a thing as a too-big chunk of butter, but, you know, different strokes and all that. What *I* liked about this recipe is how truly creamy and rich and yet flaky the biscuits were.

Here's how to get them that way:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add heavy cream a little at a time, until the mixture is fully wet.

3. Take the dough out of the bowl, and knead it for 20 to 30 seconds on a floured surface. Unlike most biscuits, you can actually treat this dough pretty roughly; I probably kneaded for more like a minute, and it was just fine.

4. The ATK folks then suggest putting the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, spreading it out, turning the pan upside down and dumping it on the countertop, then cutting out the biscuits with a biscuit cutter. Me? I hate washing more dishes than I need to, so I just smoothed it out on the same board where I'd kneaded it and cut it with a round cookie cutter.

5. Place on baking sheet with parchment paper (I'll second Kristen's insistence that it's the only way to go when you're baking), and bake for 425 degrees for about 15 minutes. Serve warm. With real butter. (Or whatever you want. I just love real butter.)

Quick Drop Biscuits (from The Joy of Cooking)

These are based on a more 'conventional' basic rolled biscuit recipe in the book, but I've never been one to care about my biscuits looking all smooth and uniform, and drop biscuits get into the oven and thus into my belly more quickly than do those that require rolling out and cutting. No contest!

2 cups all-purpose flour (another plug for unbleached)
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into smallish pieces
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 45o degrees.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, then add the butter, cutting it with knives or a pastry blender until the butter is in pea-sized (or smaller) flour-coated pieces. You don't want the butter to melt or get pasty.

3. Add all the milk at once, mixing it into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until everything is moist and sticky, but not smooth.

4. Drop golf-ball-sized teaspoons of the batter onto a baking sheet lined (yes, another plug) with parchment, spacing the biscuits an inch or more apart.

5. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the bottoms and the spiky peaks on top are nice and golden brown. Serve warm and, need I say? With butter. Mmmmmmmmmm.

So now I'm wondering...Do any of you have a strong preference when it comes to these sorts of things? Like, do some of you really hate the idea of a biscuit whose top is spiky rather than smooth? Are any of you turning up your nose at the idea of a biscuit made without butter? Do biscuits turn you off entirely, being heavier than their various yeasty cousins? I'd love to hear what you think.