"Fried" chicken (in the crockpot)

Summer isn't usually synonymous with crockpot cooking, but there's no reason for your slow cooker to collect dust when the temperature soars past the edges of the thermometer.  (Here on the hot and humid East Coast, there have been some days when it's even too hot to consider firing up the grill.) 

That's when the crockpot can be pressed into service, even for traditional summertime food like fried chicken.

In her cookbook Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, Stephanie O'Dea has a great recipe for "fried chicken" (her quotes) made in the crockpot.  It's a great recipe for these summer months for when you don't want to turn on the oven and don't want to step outside. 

Ingredients
cooking spray
1 tbsp. seasoned salt
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsps. onion powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. flour (Stephanie used a gluten-free baking mix)
18 thawed drumsticks (or however many will fit into your slow cooker) *
4 tbsps. (1/2 stick) butter, melted

* When I made this, I was able to fit approximately 10-12 drumsticks in my crockpot. 

Use a 6-quart slow cooker.  Spray the stoneware with cooking spray.  Combine all the seasonings and flour in a ziplock freezer bag.

Add the chicken and tightly seal the bag.  Shake until the chicken is nicely coated.  Dump chicken into the stoneware. Add the melted butter.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for about 6 hours.

In her notes, Stephanie mentions that she likes to munch on these cold.  So do I.  That's an extra added bonus of making extra - one less summertime meal to cook on a hot day!

Frozen banana treats

Frozen bananas are the perfect antidote for hot summer days when you've been outside working too hard or playing too hard. They are also perfect for balmy summer evenings when you welcome neighbors to sit a spell on the front porch and chat. Or after you've tucked the kids into bed for a night and feel your sweet tooth calling. Actually, they are perfect just about any time. With just a little bit of planning, frozen bananas are a quick, healthy snack that appeals to just about everyone. And, if you can stand a little bit of a mess, making these treats can be a fun activity for the kids.

You will need:

2-3 bananas
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
popsicle sticks
desired toppings (grated coconut, ground peanuts, sprinkles, chopped fruit, granola, etc.)

Melt the chocolate chips with the vegetable oil in the microwave and stir well. Allow to cool a bit so that it is easier to work with. Then, peel the bananas into the desired size and insert a popsicle stick into each part. I sometimes use tooth picks and they work equally well but the bananas have to be cut a bit smaller.  Now, roll each piece in the chocolate then quickly sprinkle with whatever toppings you have chosen. Place on a cookie sheet covered with tin foil or parchment paper and freeze.

These can be served when the chocolate sets or stored in a covered container in the freezer for up to a week. Mine don't normally make it that long!

Eggplant marinara

This may be one of the easiest, most delicious and satisfying meals I've ever made.

In our efforts to eat less and less meat (we're cutting our consumption down to 2-3 times per week), I have been experimenting with new-to-me foods.

Eggplant isn't necessarily new to me, I've eaten it many, many times. I've just not ever prepared it.

It's astonishingly easy to prepare. And super healthy. A whole, unpeeled eggplant (which I can easily eat myself) has 19 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. It's also loaded with a some good vitamins as well. And because it's so filling, it's a satisfying substitute for meat.

My sister, who told me how to make this dish, advised salting the eggplant first. She said she's made eggplant both ways (salting and without salting) and she always regrets not salting. According to my cooking Bible, The Joy of Cooking, salting is not always necessary. And the Google U answers were mixed.

I erred on the side of caution and salted. Salting eggplant draws out the bitter juices that eggplant is sometimes known for.

First, I washed my eggplants but did not peel them. I sliced them into rounds and generously salted (with Kosher salt) them. I layered them in a colander and placed a plate on top of them which I weighted with a heavy can.

I let them salt (aka sweating) for half an hour. My sister tells me another option is to salt them and place them in a Ziploc baggie in the fridge and let them salt for several hours. I'll probably do that next time.

Next, thoroughly rinse them to remove all the salt. Some of my slices were not rinsed all the way and definitely tasted too salty.

Then, I put some minced garlic in olive oil and brushed that on top of my eggplant rounds.

I placed them in the oven at 400 degrees and let them bake until they were soft. Maybe about 15 minutes. It doesn't matter how long you bake them. It's a vegetable - bake them till they look/feel like what works for you.

Meanwhile, at some point make some marinara sauce (or open a jar - whatever suits you). I make a simple marinara by sauteing fresh onions and garlic in olive oil, adding tomato sauce and "Italian" herbs (like basil and oregano), and just letting it simmer.

Serve warm, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and enjoy.

We loved this dish so much it's going into frequent rotation.

Curried minced pork with vegetables, Thai-style

Once upon a time I was misguided enough to think I could learn to speak Thai. Luckily, my very perceptive friend and teacher guessed that the way to access my language center was through my stomach.  Our lessons therefore always started at the market and ended in a communal meal in the shared kitchen of the women's dormitory where I was living. This is very appropriate because in Thailand it really is all about the food. Eating is a very social activity. I left with an extra ten pounds and a notebook full of recipes, including this one.

This meal has become standard fall-back fare at my house. If I haven't planned ahead and need to come up with a quick, satisfying meal that everyone will eat, this dish tops the list. It is also simple enough and tasty enough that I will prepare it for guests when I don't want to be preoccupied by a complicated menu.

An essential ingredient to this one-dish meal is Prik Khing curry paste. I'm lucky enough to have a great local Asian food store that carries a wide assortment of Thai curry pastes, but I have noticed that the ethnic food section of our grocery store also carries a small selection (but with a heftier price tag). For this dish you will only use about a tablespoon of curry paste but the rest will keep well in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. I have also frozen it, spooning it directly from the freezer to the wok.

In addition to the curry paste, you will need:
1.5 lbs ground pork (or beef) (or so)
vegetable oil
1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 quarter size slices ginger, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2-3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Large bell pepper (red adds a nice color), sliced
green beans (a couple handfuls), sliced lengthwise
** Optional: Thai basil, 2 cups (or so) cubed pineapple

To prepare:
Cook ground meat, mincing as you go. Set aside when fully cooked.
Add a tablespoon or so of the vegetable oil to your wok. When it is very hot, add the onion and cook until tender. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until the ginger is golden brown. Add about a tablespoon of the curry paste and mix well, frying it with the onion for about a minute. Add the sugar, soy sauce and vinegar. Return the ground meat to the wok and mix well. Add the pepper and green beans, cook until they are tender but still retain some of their crunch. Remove from heat.

If you have Thai basil and some cubed pineapple, toss this with the ground meat and vegetables.

Don't be afraid to add more sugar, soy sauce and vinegar to your taste. The final dish should be a nice balance of sweet, salty, spicy and sour.

Serve over steamed jasmine rice.

A note about spicy foods: sugar counteracts the heat of spicy ingredients in Thai food. If you find that you've added too much curry paste, go ahead and slowly add in small measurements of sugar until the heat is more easily tolerated.

Stir fried Thai noodles

There are many, many ways to cook Pad Thai. As with most Thai foods, you can add any number of ingredients that balance out the four main tastes: sweet, sour, salty, spicy. I prefer an adaptation of the very basic recipe that I found in Real Thai, by Nancie McDermott, which relies on simple ingredients that I usually have in my kitchen. It takes very little time to prepare and everyone at our table loves it.

You will need:
1/2 - 3/4 lb rice stick noodles
vegetable oil
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
12 (or so) shrimp
2 eggs
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar

dry-roasted peanuts
bean sprouts
one bunch green onions, chopped
2 limes

First, soak the noodles in a large bowl of hot water for about twenty minutes. While the noodles are softening, start preparing the rest of your ingredients. Mince the garlic, clean, peel and devein the shrimp.

Next, heat about a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil in your wok. Once it is hot, add the garlic and fry until it is a very light brown. Then, add the shrimp and cook until it all pieces are pink. Turn the heat off and carefully remove the garlic and shrimp with a slotted metal spoon and set aside.

Next cook your egg. Heat the remaining oil in the wok and add the two eggs. You can either gently beat them before adding to the pan or, just crack the eggs right in the wok as I do. Let them fry for a few seconds then, using your metal spoon, lightly scramble the egg until it is a golden yellow. Remove the egg from the pan and set aside with the garlic and shrimp.

By this time your noodles should be nice and soft. Drain them in a colander and let sit to remove excess water while you heat another tablespoon or so of oil in the wok. Once the oil is hot add the noodles. Fry them evenly by using two utensils to spread the noodles in a layer over the entire cooking surface of the wok, then lump them together in the center and repeat until they are curled and very soft.

Now, add a handful or two (or three) of the bean sprouts and the green onion and cook for a minute until soft.

Then, add the fish sauce and sugar. (Taste the noodles at this point and decide if you should adjust the flavors more to your taste. More of any combination of ingredients can be added now.) Add the garlic, shrimp and egg and mix thoroughly. At this point you want to be careful of hungry boys or you will find them eating directly from the pan.

Before serving, add a few more, uncooked bean sprouts for texture and a half-cup or so coarsely ground peanuts. Garnish with lime wedges. Serve.

Green smoothies

Recently I started experimenting with our smoothies. I want my older daughter, who is dairy-free, to have more calcium in her diet from food (not supplements).

Somehow I stumbled onto the idea of Green Smoothies. These are very popular among people who are on a raw food diet, but truly would be a wonderful addition to any person's diet.

The concept of a green smoothie is pretty simple: leafy green vegetables blended with fruit into a smoothie. Many green smoothies are actually green in color, but I found that when strawberries are in it, that overpowers the green. Especially if the leafy green is spinach. When I use kale, the smoothie looks more brown.

Do you think this sounds gross yet? I promise you, it's not. With both spinach and kale (the only two greens I've tried so far), there is no taste difference.

The truth of that can be seen in the fact that my 5 year old daughter will drink it down and ask for more. And she knows there is a leafy green in it, I didn't try to hide that fact.

There are, I'm sure, a million different leafy green and fruit combos you can try. Someone recommended swiss chard, an apple and orange juice saying it was divine (but definitely green).

I have used kale with strawberries or mixed berries (frozen) and bananas, and I've used spinach with the same and added fresh pear as well.

For my part, I decided to start with what I know the girls will drink: strawberry and banana smoothie. At first, I added just one leaf of kale. Then two, and now it's up to three leaves which is roughly two 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

And truly, my daughter doesn't care. She adores these smoothies. My younger daughter - not so much. But she never was a big smoothie drinker in the first place.

I start by blending the kale first with 1/4 cup of milk (we use rice). Then add in the frozen strawberries, then the banana. There's no real recipe here - just make your smoothie the way you normally do, but use a little less fruit and add a leafy green.

I usually add a little bit of sugar and some additional rice milk if I feel like it needs to be smoother and thinner. You can add a protein powder or anything else you would normally put in a smoothie.

I have read it suggested that a green smoothie should be 40% leafy green and 60% fruit. I strive for that, loosely, but I don't follow it hard and fast. I figure any amount of leafy green we can add to our diet is a good thing.

My preferred leafy green is kale because it is such a nutritional powerhouse, but spinach and romaine lettuce work well.

The smoothie below contains 2 cups of spinach, 1 cup of frozen strawberries, 1 fresh pear, and 1 small banana. There is also some rice milk and about 2 teaspoons of sugar. It yielded about 2 1/2 cups of smoothie that I split with my daughter.


My exploration with green smoothies is by no means complete. I want to try adding fresh apple and using orange juice. I find them to be seriously delicious.

Help me out and tell me: how do you make YOUR smoothie?

Guacamole

I am in a funk.

A cooking funk. I cannot hardly muster an ounce of energy or interest in food right now. If I could, I'd eat a bowl of cereal every day. Or a piece of toast. Maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every now and then for good measure.

Unfortunately, the natives are uncooperative and demand variety. I've resorted to all of my old standbys, things I've made a thousand times, and my husband is doing most of the cooking.

Does this kind of cooking funk sound familiar to you? Surely I'm not the only person to fall out of the groove.

This past weekend we had a few guests over in the afternoon. I wanted to make a couple of appetizers. First I dug deep into the archives of my recipe box and made a classic: taco dip. I'll save sharing that recipe for a future date, though.

But I wanted a little something extra to go with it. So I did what I always do when I need to find a recipe that has reviews. I turned to All Recipes.

All Recipes is my go-to site. I love the way each recipe has ratings, and I always sift through the reviews as often good tips can be found in there.

What did I find as the perfect accessory to taco dip? Why, guacamole of course.

I do love me some guacomole. And my two daughters actually like it (sometimes) too. I have long wanted to make my own, but had never gotten around to looking up a recipe.

This one had something like 1300 reviews and was rated 5-star. That's a pretty high rating at All Recipes, so I figured it would be delicious.

And it was. Seriously delicious. The little amount that was leftover - I finished it for breakfast the next day.

I'd never had a guacamole with tomatoes in it before, but this was great. I'd still like to find a non-tomato version, though, as that is my preferred way of consuming it.

Without further ado, straight from All Recipes, I present: Guacamole.

You'll need:

3 avocados - peeled, pitted and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (intentional)

In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados with the lime juice and salt.

Then mix in everything else.

I didn't have time to refrigerate for an hour, and it tasted fine. But the flavor was definitely better later in the evening when we had put it in the fridge for awhile. If you can refrigerate before serving, I do recommend it.

The next morning, my husband scooped some guacamole into a corn tortilla with scrambled eggs - very yummy too.

Enjoy.

And if you have any suggestions for getting out of this cooking funk, I'm all ears!

Best GFCF chocolate chip cookies

Last fall I went on a bit of a GFCF cookie exploratory. We don't eat a ton of cookies in the house, but they are nice to have on hand for when a cookie just feels right. Store-bought GF cookies are expensive ($4.99 for a dozen) and kinda blech.

My all-time favorite cookie, hands-down, is a chocolate chip cookie. In fact, I have a little bit of a problem with them. I'm addicted. Homemade chocolate chip cookies are something I just. can't. stop. eating.

Last fall I began scouring the internet for GF chocolate chip cookie recipes. The first 3 recipes I tried were so-so. Edible, but nothing to make me stop looking.

Then I decided to check out what my favorite GF blogger, Erin at M.A.G. - Adventures in ASD and GFCF living, had to offer.

I found the winner. My search stopped.

These cookies are soft and moist and taste every bit as delicious as the chocolate chip cookies that I've been making for years.

In addition to being free of gluten and casein, they are soy-free as well!

Because four different flours are used to make these cookies, mixing up the dry ingredients seems to take the longest. So what I do now is mix up the dry ingredients for 4 or 5 batches rather than just one.

This is easily accomplished by using quart-sized ziploc bags in an assembly-line fashion. I just dump the ingredients in each bag (I don't bother sifting, I can do that when I'm ready to make the actual cookies) and toss them in the freezer. When I'm ready to make cookies, all I have to do is mix my "butter" and sugars, the egg and vanilla, and then add the dry ingredients from my ziploc bag.

Without further ado, the recipe.

GFCFSF Chocolate Chip Cookies
(courtesy of M.A.G. - Adventures in ASD and GFCF Living)

1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup potato starch flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

scant 1 cup (8 oz) dairy free, soy free margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
10 ounces dairy free, soy free chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together the sorghum flour through the salt, set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and the sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the egg, beat well.
Add the vanilla and beat to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides as necessary. This will take a bit of work if you do it by hand - don't worry if it looks dry at first, it will come together and look perfect in a minute.

You don't want the mixture to be too wet, or the cookies will flatten out and get crisp in the oven. (If you like flat, crispy cookies, then increase the margarine to a generous 1 cup.)

Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by generous teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

Bake about 12 minutes, or until the bottoms and edges of the cookies are very lightly browned.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 30 seconds before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Tips: I find these cookies bake better on parchment paper. I make smaller cookies, and get about 3 1/2 dozen out of the recipe.

Note: If you don't need to be soy-free, you can use your regular dairy-free butter.

Oven roasted rosemary potatoes

I wish I had some interesting story to tell you about how I first tried these at so-and-so's restaurant (I did not) or how my mother used to make these every Sunday (she did not).  Alas, I've got nothing for you.  Just some yummy potatoes which are so easy to make (no matter how you do them) and are so versatile that you can substitute just about any seasoning you want to complement any meal or to satisfy any taste.

Here's how I made them (this week):

Ingredients:
6 medium red potatoes
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
olive oil
sea salt

The 18-minute version:

Preheat oven to 400F.  Wash potatoes and cut into chunks approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches large.

Using a mortar and pestle or a small burr grinder, grind up the rosemary just enough to release the oils and flavor.

Place potatoes into a microwaveable bowl or casserole.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Add rosemary and sea salt, to taste, and stir the potatoes to spread the mixture evenly.

Cover dish with plastic wrap and microwave on high for approximately 8 minutes until almost completely cooked. Potatoes are cooked when they can be pierced with a fork.

Transfer potatoes to a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet.  Brown in oven for 10 minutes or until golden crust begins to form on the potatoes.

Serve piping hot and enjoy!

The 45-minute version

Preheat oven to 400F. Wash potatoes and cut into chunks approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches large.


Using a mortar and pestle or a small burr grinder, grind up the rosemary just enough to release the oils and flavor. Add rosemary and sea salt, to taste, and stir the potatoes to spread the mixture evenly.


Put the potatoes, oilve oil, rosemary and sea salt (to taste) in a plastic food storage bag.  Seal it and shake to coat evenly.

Transfer potatoes to a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until golden crust begins to form on the potatoes.  They are done when the potatoes can be pierced with a fork.

Serve piping hot and enjoy!
 
Footnote:
Now, you may be asking yourself why I would go to the trouble of microwaving the potatoes when I can just roast them in the oven.  Two reasons, actually.  First, I don't always have the time to get the oven ready with enough lead time for preheating and cooking for 45 minutes.  I can set the oven to preheat while I'm mixing and microwaving and then toss it all into the oven to brown away while I am giving Nik his dinner.  Second, I like my potatoes a bit moister than I think they come out when cooked in the oven for so long.
 
Another plus to the shorter method is that they can be cooked ahead of time —say the night before I want to serve them— and baked/browned in the oven the next day.  If I cook them completely and then have to store them in the fridge, they get kind of mushy and I end up having to re-brown them anyway.

Savory ricotta, onion and bacon tart

Weekdays are so busy with caring for Nik that on the weekends, when my husband is home and I get some breathing room, I just want to create.  I'm not sure what prompted me to decide to make a tart this weekend; I've never made a tart in my life.  Yeah, I'm a little crazy like that sometimes, I guess, but the bug had bitten so I was off and running.  Besides, it was the perfect excuse to go out and buy myself a tart pan!

Did I bother to look at any recipes? Nope.  Well, okay, one recipe —my great-grandmother's pie crust recipe; I substituted my gluten free sorghum flour blend and it came out fine.  The color isn't as golden as a traditional wheat-based flour crust would be but it was tasy and had a good texture to it.

I knew I wanted to keep the tart simple, in terms of ingredients, but wanted it layered with complementary flavors.  I decided on a simple ricotta cheese base with a few ingredients and seasonings added on top.  Kind of like a "white pizza" but on a pie crust. (Hey, roll with me here, okay?)

I have to say, I think it turned out well for my first foray into the land of tarts.  My husband loved it!  There were no leftovers remaining after lunch the next day and he's already asked me when I'm making another one.  My answer? Probably soon; it's so darn easy to make!

The ingredients and recipe for the crust:

1/2 cups flour (I used a GF sorghum blend.*)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening (I used palm shortening. You could use Crisco, margarine or butter.)
4 to 6 tablesppons cold water
* 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (ONLY for GF flour) (gives dough elasticity)

Mix dry ingredients together in mixing bowl. Using either a pastry blender or two knives, cut in shortening until the mixture is the consistency of lumpy corn meal.  (NB: you may use your hands for this but it gets pretty messy!)  Add 4 tablespoons cold water until the dough is a soft pasty consistency with which you can clean the sides of the bowl.  If it's too dry add more water a little at a time until you get the right feel.  If it's too wet simply add a bit more flour.

Form dough into a soft ball.  Roll the dough into a medium sized circle. Place the dough in the tart pan, pressing the dough to the edges and creating a slightly raised edge.  You want it high enough to hold the ingredients you will add after you bake the shell. 

Bake at 350F for approximately 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan.  Tart should be cool enough to touch the pan with your bare hand before adding the filling. Do not remove the shell from the pan.

Filling ingredients:
[NB: These measurements are approximate; I did not actually measure as I concocted.]

1 cup ricotta cheese (Use regular fat, not skim. Skim will make the filling very dry.)
1 cup diced tomato
1cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 onion, shaved or very thinly sliced
5 to 6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled in large bits
1/4 to 1/2 cup romano or asiago cheese, finely shredded
1 Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb blend (You can sub equal parts oregano and garlic powder)
black pepper to taste

In mixing bowl, blend ricotta, oregano and pepper.  You may add bacon if you want it throughout the tart.  Spoon seasoned ricotta into the cooled tart shell.  Layer tomatoes, onions, bacon and mushrooms on top in any fashion you wish.  Top with shredded romano/asiago.

Bake at 350F for approximately 30 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted and lightly golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool approximately 10 minutes before serving.

Makes a nice light main dish which goes perfectly with a spinach or caesar salad.  Or serve it as a side dish with something like Kristen's braised chicken with artichoke hearts.  Either way, you can't go wrong.

The beauty of this non-recipe is that you can really take it and play with it to make it your very own. Don't like mushrooms? Leave them out. Adore bacon? Add as much as you like.  Try it with cottage cheese if you don't have ricotta.  Top it with cheddar.  Mmm, layer sliced potatoes and bacon with cheddar and chives and you've got your very own potato skins tart! Garnish with sour cream for a yummy Super Bowl party snack! 

The possibilities are limited only by your taste and creativity.  Enjoy!

White bean and kale soup with sausage

Last week I decided to try two new things. One was to cook dried beans, and the 2nd was to try kale (a dark, leafy green vegetable like spinach).

I have attempted to cook dried beans once before and it was horrible. I tried a crock-pot method and they turned out really gritty. I never tried again. But dried beans are both a healthier and more frugal choice, so (a mere 10 years later) I tried again.

Whole Foods, where I do the vast majority of my shopping, featured a recipe in their monthly newsletter for white bean and kale soup with chicken sausage. I decided to use Italian sausage instead though. The newsletter also gave a basic recipe for cooking dried beans.

I am thrilled to say that my beans turned out great and the soup was a huge hit. I am pleasantly surprised by how much I liked kale. Much better than I expected.

I am no longer afraid to cook my own beans! And as they are so healthy and a great option for meatless meals, I think I'll be doing it more often!

First, how to cook the dried beans.

You'll need:
1 lb dried white beans (cannellini, navy or great northern - I used cannellini)
1 yellow onion, quartered
2 dried bay leaves
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Spread the beans in a single layer on a large sheet tray; pick through to remove and discard any small stones or debris and then rinse well.

Soak the beans using one of these two methods:

• Traditional soaking method: in a large bowl, cover beans by 3" with cold water, cover and set aside at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight.

• Quick soaking method: in a large pot, cover beans by 3" with cold water, cover and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, remove pot from heat and set aside, covered, for one hour.
  

Drain soaked beans and transfer to a large pot. Cover by 2" with cold water, add onion and bay leaves and bring to a boil; skim off and discard any foam on the surface. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, gently stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Drain beans, if desired, discard onions and bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.

Makes about 7 cups total.

Now, the recipe for White Bean and Kale Soup with Sausage (originally from Whole Foods). This recipe is naturally free of both gluten and casein.

You'll need:
2 32-ounce boxes of chicken broth
1 lb of Italian sausage, sliced
Thinly sliced yellow onion (to taste, I used about 1/2 of one)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
7 cups cooked white beans
1 bunch organic kale, stems and tough ribs removed, leaves roughly chopped

Heat 1/4 cup chicken broth in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage slices and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and sausage is just browned. (About 10 minutes.)

Add onions, salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until softened. (About another 10 minutes.)

Meanwhile, puree together 3 cups of beans and 2 cups of chicken broth, and set aside.

Once onions are softened, add remaining broth to sausage mixture in pot and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits.

Add kale, reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until wilted and softened. (About 5 minutes.)

Uncover and add remaining 4 cups of beans, bean puree, more salt and pepper, and simmer until hot throughout.

I served this with a loaf of gluten free French bread.

Oven pork chops

I'm not one to make New Year resolutions too often. But if I were, no doubt one of them would have something to do with seeking more variety in what we eat, and trying new things.

It's one of the reasons I like this blog, (Never) Too Many Cooks, so much. I aim to try at least one new recipe per week. And because I post once a week, I aim to try an additional something new at home too.

This week, however, coming off the holidays and all manner of colds and viruses running through the house, I resorted to an old familiar for dinner.

These oven pork chops are a tried and true recipe that comes from a family friend. It is naturally free of gluten and casein. And ridiculously simple.

Oven Pork Chops

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix together
1/4 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup maple syrup

Brown pork chops in skillet.

Place in baking dish and pour the mixture over the pork chops.

Bake for 45 minutes, covered.

Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes uncovered.



Usually I like to serve this with mashed potatoes, but the few potatoes in my cupboard had started to go soft. So we went with our standard (gluten-free) pasta and a side of peas.

For those of you who don't eat pork, I can't see why this wouldn't work just as well with chicken.

Spicy cheese straws

As I was planning my post for this week, I overlooked a critical step in the process —checking in with my fellow writers to see what they were planning for the week.  Had I done so, I would not have planned my pulled pork recipe to follow on the heels of GoodFountain's yummy barbecue sauce.  Oops.  I plead temporary insanity resulting from the sinus infection and bronchitis which I've been battling. (I'll post the pulled pork another time; mine's more of a southern/Carolinas style, vinegar-based barbecue.)

Searching for some inspiration for a new recipe, I cracked open the box of cook books and recipe boxes I'd packed away to go in my mother's attic.  I did find the krumkake recipe I'd been looking for.  But I digress. 

Feeling a bit nostalgic, I opened up my Nana's battered grey recipe box and began to thumb through the decades and generations' worth of recipes within.  I confess to getting a bit weepy over the memories they evoked of long-ago visits to my grandparents' home in northwestern Connecticut.  Early morning smells of homemade brown bread baking in the oven as we ate our oatmeal at the wooden trestle table nestled against the large fieldstone hearth.  *sigh* It's been so many years since my grandparents passed away and the cabin's long-since been sold out of the family. Yet, the sight of Nana's spidery writing on those cards brought it all flooding back.

There is a treasure trove of culinary history held within that small gray box; I'll endeavor to share some of it in the coming year.  Recipes for my great-grandmother's tea cake and her pie crust recipe which is so amazing my sisters still ask me to send it to them every year (they don't seem to keep too many recipes).  Recipes for homemade egg nog and my grandfather's secret chicken marinade.  So many recipes to choose from and each with a story.

I'm not sure where this particular recipe came from originally.  In fact, I'm not even sure if it's correct!  I guess that's one of the hazards of cooking by "feel" or by instincts; the course corrections may not always be recorded for posterity!  I tried to make the recipe as Nana wrote it but it didn't seem right to me so, I confess, I searched some recipes online to find ways to tweak it to get the right consistency. 

I don't mind telling you that, had I not committed myself to blogging about these delicious little cheese straws, I was so frustrated that I would've gladly scrapped the whole thing!  My husband and son are both glad I didn't as they gobbled up the results with gusto!  (Yes, I broke my dairy-free rule in order to allow Nik to try a few.  Now the challenge is on to find a suitable casein free replacement so I can make these again! When I do, I'll substitute a non-dairy shortening and coconut milk for the other dairy ingredients.)

Here is the recipe as I made it—

Ingredients:
2 C flour (I used my GF sorghum blend)
1/4 lb butter (room temp)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 1/2 Tbsp milk*


*Nana's recipe didn't call for any liquid but it just seemed too dry and crumbly so I improvised with great success.

Mix all the ingredients until you have a dough the consistency of thick cookie dough.  I used my stand mixer but recommend using a food processor instead.

Take small portions of the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured cutting board —much the same way you would for rolled cookies. Trim the rolled portion into a neat rectangle then cut the dough into strips about the width of a pencil.  Cut strips to desired lengths (I made mine about four inches long. Any longer and they seem to break apart when I transfer them to the pan).  Arrange them about an inch apart on the tray for baking.

Bake at 325F for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove to cooling racks and allow to cool completely for a delectable, crunchy, spicy treat!

NOTE:  Some recipes I found indicate that you can use a cookie press to make uniform sized extruded straws/cookies.  I did not have any luck with this method as the dough was a bit too thick for the press.

Do you have a favorite appetizer or snack recipe?  We'd love to have you share it —or any other recipes—with us.  Just drop us a line and let us know you'd like to be a guest blogger.

Wishing you and yours a very happy and healthy new year!

Guest post: Homemade cucumber sushi

Of all the so-called "ethnic" foods one can serve up, homemade sushi seems to strike a good share of fear into the hearts of cooks who otherwise have no qualms about dishes that require trips to foreign markets, or strange spices, or presumably difficult techniques. But honestly, sushi is so simple to make at home, and so delicious, I can't figure out why more people don't do it. Even some cooks here on NTMC claim they'd "never" attempt it, so here's my brief pep talk—and tutorial—aimed to prove sushi simple.

Here's (all) you'll need:

Two cups cooked short grain, "sushi" rice. This can be purchased in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets. I cook mine in a rice cooker. Two cups of rice will make about three rolls of sushi.

One English cucumber, sometimes called hothouse cucumbers. These have more meat on the cucumber, and less seeds, and, in my opinion, better flavor. But honestly, a regular old cucumber will work too.

Sushi nori. Again, many supermarkets sell this. It's simply sheets of nori, the right size for rolling sushi. If you buy your nori in an Asian market, ask specifically for sushi nori, as many Asian markets also sell Korean style nori which is far saltier, and spicier, and greasier, and well, delicious on its own but it won't roll up right at all.

Mirin. This is a sweet rice seasoning—not vinegar!

Bamboo sushi rolling "mat". You can buy these in all Asian markets, or even on Amazon.

Small bowl of warm water.

Getting started:

First, peel and seed the cucumber, then cut into long, thin strips. Next, sprinkle the cooled rice with the mirin and toss. The mirin lightly seasons the rice, and makes it a bit less sticky when rolled. Next, lay the sheet of nori on the bamboo mat, then spread an even 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of rice along all but about two inches of the nori, leaving a bit of nori free at the top for sealing. You'll have to play with the thickness of the layer of rice to get the amount right, but after a few rolls, you'll get the hang of it. My local sushi chef also compresses the rice between his hands before he lays it on the nori. This makes the roll nice and tight, so go ahead and try!

 Next, layer strips of cucumber into the middle of the nori. I usually cut the cucumber into 1/4 inch strips and use about three to four of these per roll.

 Begin rolling:

 The goal here is to keep the roll right. Use both hands and don't be afraid. The mat will prevent you from breaking the nori. When you get to the end, wet the edge of the nori with the warm water, and seal the roll.

Moisten a sharp knife with water, and cut the roll into inch wide pieces. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

 See how easy? And so much better than supermarket sushi!

***

Leightongirl blogs at www.vickiforman.com

Gluten-free snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are one of my all-time favorite cookies (and also one of my favorite words to say!) C'mon, say it: Snickerdoodle. Snickerdoodle. Snickerdoodle. You have heard of Snickerdoodles, right? I was shocked a couple of days ago when a friend said, "What are those?" when I mentioned this cookie.

With the holiday baking spirit starting to take over in my house, I decided now is the time to find out if gluten-free Snickerdoodles would be just as delicious as the traditional ones.

I searched the web looking for recipes, thinking that I might try several, but one in particular kept surfacing time and again with rave reviews. There were other GF recipes that were for variations on the original, but I was looking for the tried and true cinnamon/sugary delight known as Snickerdoodles.

The recipe is from The Gluten Free Baker by Robin Ryberg

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup potato starch

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp corn starch

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp xantham gum

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp water

Cinnamon-Sugar Coating

Mix together

3 Tbsp sugar and 3/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together potato starch, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, xantham gum and salt.

Add the dry ingredients along with the 2 Tbsp of water to the sugar/shortening. Mix very well to eliminate any lumps in the dough.

Lightly oil hands or spray with cooking spray (I sprayed) to handle the dough as it is quite sticky.

Shape into small balls using a slightly-rounded teaspoon of dough for each cookie. Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet (again, I used cooking spray). The original recipe calls for each ball to be pressed to about 1/3-inch even thickness, but I forgot to do that after the first batch and didn't notice a difference.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. A single cookie should be removed at the shortest baking time to test for doneness. Browning is not a good indicator for these cookies.

This recipe made 3 dozen, 2 dozen of which were consumed practically on the spot. The remaining dozen were nibbled away all day.

Now that I've shared one of my favorite cookies, please share yours! I looooove cookies!

Gluten free Norwegian krumkake (waffle cookies)

(Image courtesy of LefseTime)

When my husband, who is part Norwegian, first introduced me to krumkake, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. This delicious little waffle cookie —slightly similar to Italian pizelle cookies but with a much more delicate flavor and texture— is a traditional holiday staple in my husband's family. What sets krumkake apart from other waffle cookies is that it's made using cardamom and the flour is sifted so it's super-fine which helps to give the batter a nice light consistency. The batter is then cooked on a special griddle engraved with beautiful designs.  If you don't own one, you can easily purchase one for around forty dollars, or you can simply cook them in a small crepe/sautee pan or flat griddle.  The batter will spread as it heats and you can flip them with a spatula for sort of crunchy wafers.  You won't have the pretty lacey pattern but you'll still have the yummy treats!

These delectable little babies are so light and delicate, so beautiful and so tasty I could eat, ahem, well, let's just say...a lot. My husband has made krumkake for many, many years using his grandmother's original recipe which uses wheat flour. Ever since I started eating gluten free (and casein free in many cases for my son's sake), I've missed having krumkake at Christmas. We decided to remedy that this year and set out to modify Grandma's recipe. Which, ahem, it turns out is packed away with some other cookbooks in my mother's attic. (Did I mention my kitchen is tiny? I'm sure I did.)

The recipe below comes from LefseStore; we substituted a GF flour blend for the regular flour but split the difference on casein by using butter and rice milk. We were so pleased with this recipe that we'll use it again and substitute something else for the butter, perhaps coconut butter or palm shortening.

The basic recipe (with GF or CF substitutions in parenthesis after):

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened (not melted) (coconut butter or palm shortening)
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 cup flour, sifted (GF sorghum blend, recipe at the end of this post)**
1 scant cup milk (rice milk)
1 pinch salt (moderate) (not in the original recipe but my husband remembered that from Grandma's)
**1/4 tsp xanthan gum (omit if using regular flour)

Beat the eggs well. Add sugar, butter and cardamom, beat well.
Add flour and milk in equal parts at a time and beat until smooth. (Confession: I tossed the flour and milk in together in my Kitchenaid stand mixer and it was fine. If you are mixing by hand you should definitely follow the recipe's instructions.) The key is not to overmix the flour; too much can make the final product more coarse than you want.

Using a tablespoon or large mixing spoon, spoon the batter onto the griddle just behind the center of the design. When the lid is closed, the weight of it will push the batter forward to fill in the design. Cook for about a minute and check for doneness. The cookies are done when they are a light golden color and the pattern is just discernable. Use a wooden or synthetic spatula (for non-stick cookware) to lift the edge of the cookie off the griddle while rolling it. Tradition calls for rolling them, while still hot, around a cone-shaped form. If you don't have a cone form it's perfectly fine to use a round handled whisk or a broom stick. Or simply lay them flat to cool.

The krumake will cook very quickly and will have a very light, delicate wafer-like quality (whereas a pizelle is generally heavier or thicker— and made with anise). Dust them with powdered sugar or fill them with your favorite fillings. Eat them plain or dip one end in melted chocolate. You can't go wrong. They can be prepared so many ways. It's been suggested that Norwegian settlers to the Midwest introduced the light little krumkake which was quickly adapted into what is now the ice cream cone.

In addition to the traditional cone shape, krumkake can also be rolled into narrower straight rolls which make them more stable for shipping. If I'm going to ship some to my in-laws, I'll leave them flat; the last time I shipped some that were rolled, my in-laws ended up with a lovely parcel of krumkake crumbs— which are fabulous for topping sundaes, by the way.

True statement: my husband was wary of the GF alteration to this well-loved cookie; he thought the batter too thin at first. When the krumkake were done and he'd eaten some, he proclaimed them so good that he doesn't see the need to ever go back to using wheat flour! How's that for an endorsement?

(Image courtesy of ChefsChoice)

Honesty clause: We haven't made any of these yet this season because our young son has been battling some significant respiratory illnesses for the past month— but we plan to remedy that this weekend. The pictures accompanying this post are from other sources (attributed).

******************************** 

Sorghum Flour Blend:
2 C sorghum flour plus 2/3 C potato starch flour and 1/3 C tapioca flour. 
 
I recommend using sorghum for this recipe simply because it similar to wheat flour in its properies and behavior.

Breakfast crepes

Finding the new and different for breakfast is something I'm always interested in. Breakfast is definitely the least varied meal of the day at our house. Nearly every day it's cold cereal for myself and one daughter, hot cereal for the other, and oatmeal for my husband. Borrrring.

On weekends we mix it up with organic eggs and organic bacon. Incidentally, if you've not yet switched to organic bacon - hurry and do so now. So delicious!! I will never go back to that overly-processed, filled-with-nitrates bacon that lines the shelves at the supermarket. The taste is awful compared to what we like to call "the good stuff."

Imagine my delight upon seeing that Living Without has a recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free breakfast crepes. I have always loved crepes, and enjoyed them often when my sister and I were roommates, but I had never tried making them myself.

They turned out to be one of the easiest things I have ever made. And now I'm thinking a crepe pan is in my not-too-distant future.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Breakfast Crepes
1 cup brown rice flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 cup milk (plain-flavored rice, soy, hemp or almond milk)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp oil

Mix flour and sugar in a blender or mixing bowl.

Add milk, eggs and vanilla and combine well. Batter should be thin, like cake batter. If it's too runny, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time.

Place oil in a heavy skillet or non-stick pan and heat skillet to medium high.

Pour enough batter into the skillet to coat the bottom of the pan.

Tilt the pan until batter is evenly distributed.

Tip: If, like me, you have too large of a non-stick pan, it's not necessary to tilt the pan to coat the entire bottom. I did that on the first one and it didn't turn out well. For the rest I just tilted the pan to spread out the batter a little bit (crepes are meant to be thin).

Cook until bubbles cover the crepe.

Peek at the bottom; crepe should cook until bottom is lightly browned.



(Patience is key here. If you flip too early, you’ll split the crepe). Flip crepe with a spatula and cook briefly until done.

Repeat until all batter is used.

Immediately after removing the crepe to a plate, I spread (dairy-free) butter on it and sprinkled with sugar and then rolled them. Heavenly. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

There would have been quite a few more on the plate, but while I was making them a certain "chef" and her husband couldn't stop eating them. We managed to hold back so I would have enough for a pretty picture.

Just think how much prettier that picture will be when I get that crepe pan and they are all the same size.

Next weekend I think we'll try adding fruit or something else delicious to them.

Do you like crepes? What's your favorite way to serve them?

Guest post: Vietnamese grilled pork with rice vermicelli

My kids call this scrumptious all-in-one meal "Vietnamese pork bowl." It's a crowd pleaser: gluten and dairy free, vegetable gateway for picky eaters, straightforward preparation, and its three-hour process is done in spurts with lots of interstitial free time to pull apart brawling children—and oh my goodness is it delicious. Even my picky son with autism can be coaxed into nibbling on one of the carrot sticks. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Serves 4 - 6

Marinade
8 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
5 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup sugar
ground black pepper to taste

Sauce (nuoc cham)
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of 1 large lime
5 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 cup water
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

2 pounds pork shoulder (pork loin works but compromises awesomeness)
8 oz rice vermicelli/sen mee/maifun
1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and julienned
5 tbsp cilantro, Thai basil, mint (any combination), chopped

1. Place pork in the freezer for sixty minutes to firm it for slicing. (Frozen pork can be slightly defrosted in microwave and sliced immediately).
2. While the pork is freezing, mix the marinade ingredients and set aside.
3. Remove pork from freezer, cut into 1/4" slices, then place in a gallon ziploc bag.
4. Pour marinade into pork bag, shake to cover all surfaces, squeeze out excess air, and seal. Marinate in fridge for one hour (you can leave it overnight, but one hour is sufficient).
5. Mix the sauce ingredients together and put in fridge until needed.
6. Julienne carrot and cucumber, and chop herbs.
   
7. Optional: Place leftover mint, cucumber, or lime in a pitcher of ice water to impress any guests or soothe yourself with a spa-like visual.
8. Optional: Reserve a couple of carrot sticks and tell your child with the self-limited diet that they will get a bite of cookie or other preferred food for each bite of said carrot sticks.
9. When the pork has 30 marinating minutes left, boil a large pot of water. Add the vermicelli/sen mee/maifun noodles and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, until tender. Drain the noodles, rinse, and set aside.
10. Fetch the pork. Grill it until it is cooked through but not overcooked, 5 - 10 min. (This is an excellent time to deep-six any fantasies about Viking ranges with built-in grill tops, as they require two hours of cleanup. I recommend a nice grilling pan, Weber, cast-iron skillet, or George Foreman-style plug-in grill.)
11. Divide up and pile noodles in individual bowls; top with vegetables, then pork, then herbs. Ladle sauce/nuoc cham over each bowl. Those who can take it should top with chili paste or Sriracha.
12. Enjoy everyone's exclamations of pleasure and delight.

Adapted from Serious Eats
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Guest blogger Shannon Des Roches Rosa serves a hot home-cooked dinner six days out of seven, if you include take-and-bake Costco pizza on Wednesdays.

GFCF Spaghetti and meatballs

This past weekend my younger daughter turned 3 years old. She requested her favorite dish: spaghetti! For her that means a plate of plain spaghetti with Parmesan cheese. For the rest of us, it meant the classic spaghetti and meatballs.

About 15 years ago, someone in my family stumbled across a little Italian cookbook that has turned out to have some of the best recipes ever in it. It was so loved, that my mother bought nearly every good friend and family member a copy.

I have made more than a dozen recipes from this cookbook, and each one has been superb.

I decided to use the meatball recipe from this now out-of-print cookbook, and modify it to be free of both gluten and casein.

Because this was for a party with other guests besides just my immediate family, I was a bit nervous about how the meatballs would taste with the modifications. I'm happy to say they turned out delicious and were scarfed up right away.

To compensate for omitting the Parmesan cheese in the original recipe, I mixed Italian sausage with the ground chuck. The Italian sausage added extra flavor and "covered" for the missing Parmesan cheese.

For the gluten free bread crumbs, I used two-day-old gluten free bread that I ran through the food processor to make bread crumbs. I think it would be fine to use regular GF bread without making bread crumbs though.

Below is the original recipe and my GFCF modifications are in parentheses.

Spaghetti and Meatballs (serves 6-8)
1 1/2 cups torn crustless Italian bread (gluten free bread crumbs)
1/4 cup milk (rice milk)
1 1/2 lbs ground chuck (50% GFCF Italian Sausage)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (omit)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup water
2 tsp oregano

In a large bowl, combine bread and milk. Let stand 5 minutes to soften bread. Add meat, eggs, 3 Tbsp parsley, Parmesan cheese (or not if making dairy free), half the garlic, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Blend to mix well (I used my hands). Form into 2-inch meatballs.

In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add meatballs and cook over a medium-high heat, turning, until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

In large Dutch oven, heat remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until softened. Add remaining garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add tomatoes, wine, water and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and add meatballs. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes. (The longer this simmers, the better. 45 minutes is the minimum.)

Before serving, add oregano and remaining parsley to sauce. Serve over spaghetti.

Unfortunately it was a little chaotic trying to pull all this together for a dinner party of 10 people, so I did not take any pictures of the final product. And to give you an idea of how good it was: there weren't any leftovers for me to take a picture of either!

Sweet potato souffle

I have a embarrassingly funny sweet potato story.

Growing up I swore I didn't like sweet potatoes. Truthfully, though, I never tried them. Orange potatoes? Ick, I thought.

When I was about 25-26, it was November and at work we were having a department lunch meeting. I grabbed a piece of pumpkin pie and was noshing away. Hmm, this tastes different.

So I comment, out loud, to everyone, "This is the funniest tasting pumpkin pie I've ever had."

The crotchety old department secretary pipes up (equally as loud), "That's because you're eating sweet potato pie."

The rooms bursts into laughter. I turned 3 shades of red!

But I've been a fan of sweet potatoes ever since!!

This is arguably my favorite Thanksgiving side dish (squash casserole runs a close second). I always want to make an extra batch to ensure that there is plenty for leftovers the next day.

Sweet Potato Souffle
2 lbs mashed sweet potatoes (about 3 cups)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar

Topping
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 Tbsp flour*
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecan

Preheat oven to 350.

With a mixer, mix all of the souffle ingredients together and place in a 2 quart souffle dish.

Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of souffle.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

*For a gluten-free version of the nut topping, use an all-purpose gluten-free baking flour. I have not ever done this, but I'm going to give it a try. If you'd like a tested GF nut topping recipe, click here: All-Purpose Crumb Topping. (I have not tried it, but I've never been disappointed in any of her recipes.)

To make recipe dairy free, substitute dairy free buttery spread in place of the butter.