Pasta Salad good enough for a Celiac

I was asked to bring pasta salad to dinner tonight at my mother-in-laws. I have two nieces that are celiac and I'm sure my sister-in-law would make them their own pasta salad or they would just go without. What a bummer. I thought I'd use gluten-free rice pasta. Really there isn't so much of a difference in texture - just taste. Since I'll be covering up the taste of the pasta with so many other yummy ingredients, I thought we could all handle it.

I used two shapes of small (not tiny) pasta.

Ingredients:

1 lb dry pasta, cooked, drained and rinsed with cold water

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/2 cup marinated carrots, diced

1/3 cup green olives with pimento, chopped

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1 cup baby spinach, chopped

1 cup roasted red bell pepper, chopped

8 oz crumbled feta cheese with garlic and herbs

1/3 lb Italian dry salami, cubed

2 teaspoons salt

Dressing:

Combine 1 1/2 T Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup mayonaise, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup champagne vinegar, and 2 T sugar.

Combine all ingredients, chill and enjoy!

Strawberry Basil Ice Cream

We had some strawberries in the garden and I was tired of just eating them ON things (like cereal and cake), so I decided to make ice cream with them. I also have a ton of basil, so thought I would add that to the ice cream too. It was spectacular! Here's the recipe:

2 cups fresh strawberries mascerated in the juice from 1/2 lemon and a 1/2 cup of sugar

5 to 6 large basil leaves, chiffon style

1 can sweetened condensed milk

6 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 qt heavy whipping cream

1 pint half and half

Whole Milk

Combine the condensed milk, eggs, extract, whipping cream, and half and half until thick. Add strawberries and basil leaves. Add to your ice cream container; add whole milk to fill line. Follow your ice cream maker's instructions. I make mine in the early morning so it has all day to harden up in the freezer.

Gourmet a la hot coals in a fire pit

Every Sunday this summer we are going up Millcreek Canyon, near Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm trying to make some of the meals a little fancier than the basic hamburgers and hot dogs. This last Sunday, I decided to make a yummy pasta salad and cook salmon in the fire - or at least, the hot coals from the fire - no flame.

I buttered the first layer of foil and laid down two filets of sockeye salmon, skin side down. I rubbed a little more butter on the fish and sprinkled with sea salt and black pepper. Then I covered all of the exposed fish with fresh dill - about a cup. Over the dill, I neatly laid thinly sliced lemon. I wrapped up the fish in the first layer of foil leaving an open slit on the top. Finally, I wrapped the fish in another, larger layer of foil to completely enclose and seal it in.

We just laid the foil packet, skin side up first, on top of the hot coals. After about 10 minutes, we turned the packet over and cooked for 15 more minutes. It was very moist and freshly flavorful! The pasta salad had rotini, cucumber, capers, red onion, lemon peel, mayonnaise, sour cream, champagne vinaigrette, sugar and pepper.

In a pinch - Vegan and Celiac

I had a party to go to last Monday night. It was for a friend-of-a-friend's birthday. He (the guest of honor) is vegan AND celiac. We needed to bring something to share. I had 45 minutes to clean up my house (because it would drive me crazy to come home to a messy one) and come up with something tasty to share. My idea was hummus and Fritos.

Yes. This would work and people would probably eat it, but it wouldn't live up to my own expectations. I know I could do better. So I didn't make just any regular old hummus, and I don't even know if some would still consider it to be a true hummus as I didn't add any sesame paste at all. (aka tahini)

So, I roasted a whole head of garlic in a little bit of olive oil for about 20 minutes. Cut a whole branch from my basil plant, one small sprig of freshly cut rosemary, and two large sage leaves (fresh, of course). I cleaned them and removed the stems. In my food processor, I added two cans of drained chickpeas/garbonzo beans, the roasted garlic, all the herbs, about 10 sundried tomato halves, sea salt, and started the blending. Through the lid, I added enough olive oil to eventually turn these ingredients into a smooth spread. I let the food processor continue to work for about 5 minutes to ensure that all of the fresh herbs were completely incorporated and fine.

I served it with fresh diced tomatoes on top and surrounded by - well, Fritos.

Making Salsas

Our garden has been producing a lot of peppers, so what else could I do but make salsa? Unfortunately, our tomatoes aren't quite ready yet, so I bought two large containers worth of on the vine romas. We also have a lot of radishes and parsley.

I wanted a blend of roasted and fresh items in the salsas, so roasted half of the tomatoes, one yellow onion, all the garlic and fresh peppers. I had a jar and a half of roasted red bell peppers and half a jar of red cherry peppers.

I made six varying degrees of heat salsas.

Roasted Garlic - The obvious whole head of roasted garlic and fresh parsley.

Cherry Pepper - Six sweet cherry peppers with seeds and fresh parsley.

Medium - Salsa Pepper, 2 Hot Banana Peppers, and fresh parsley.

Hot - 5 radishes, 2 Hot Banana Peppers, a Serrano and fresh parsley. (Not seeded)

Fire - 5 radishes, 2 Serrano, 2 Jalapeno, 1 Habanero, and fresh parsley. (Not seeded)

Are You Out Of Your Mind? - 2 Hot Banana, a Anaheim, 2 Habanero, and fresh parsley. (Not seeded)

I'm personally too afraid to taste the hotter three, so will leave that to my husband who absolutely loves hot, spicy food. I'm have a party here tomorrow and will use the Medium salsa in a black bean dip with extra sharp cheddar cheese.

Blogging on Food

I haven't contributed anything to this blog in a long time, but that doesn't mean I'm not cooking and creating. In fact, I would be willing to say that all of my spare time is spent creating menus or dishes in my mind, developing them in the kitchen, and feeding them to my husband and daughter, and the occasional friend, neighbor, or other family member.

I love food and everything to do with it. Yes. I'm a Food Network junky, but I don't really get into the recipe presentation programs as much as I love those that bring forth new ideas and concepts. Both types of shows teach me a lot and continue to encourage me.

I own a lot of cookbooks - maybe 25 or 30. Here's the thing: I don't like to follow recipes. So why have the cookbooks at all? That's where I get ideas on things that go together (like seasonings with meats or those special ingredients in soups, stews, and deserts). And it isn't like I don't follow a few recipes now and then. If it's not broke, don't fix it!

Every gift-giving (or, in this case, receiving) holiday, I ask for kitchen items. The awful part about having a birthday in March is that it's practically nine months before another gifting holiday comes around - until I got married in the month of May, so now I just have seven months of waiting.

For Christmas this last year I was still on oxygen after a second surgery for a crazy form of lung cancer. Compassion was paid to me in the form of a Le Crueset pot, a bread maker, and a variety of other smaller kitchen appliances, dishes, etc. I got to start using everything in February when I was feeling better, at which point several things happened to halt my cooking adventures. First, my oven began taking an hour to preheat to 325, my microwave had a mind of its own, and the refrigerator was no longer providing water just to our glasses, but also to the floor under it. Second, I had to get ready to start three months worth of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

In March, I upgraded to a gas range, awesome microwave and refrigerator - all black to match our dishwasher. Love love love!! For my birthday, I requested four boxes of these little glass jars with suction lids from Target. I had already bought one box online with a gift card from Christmas and realized how many more I would need. There are 12 per box. They hold my large collection of spices and herbs in their various forms.

I bought a label maker for my kitchen things and labeled the bottom of each jar so you can't see the name without lifting up the jar. This has caused a bit of a problem for some people in my kitchen, but then again - it is MY kitchen and I know what almost every single herb and spice looks like without needing to lift the jar. Although, I do always check to make sure I'm not putting ground mustard in my ginger bread. Yuck.

Anyway, this is the deal. I'm going to start posting more often, and it won't always be recipes. There is so much more to talk about when it comes to food. I know there are a lot more food bloggers out there than you can shake a stick at, and that's okay with me. Maybe they'll read this some day.

I'll also post on Facebook, for those of you (if anyone is actually reading this) who are fans there. At least 75% of my posts on my own Facebook page are about food, so it only makes sense I talk a little bit more on a broader scale.

So, what was on the menu for tonight? Salmon scrambled eggs, sausages, herb roasted asparagu and tomatoes (fresh herbs from our garden), sliced baguette, and a fantastic red and cherry pepper butter spread. Breakfast dinner done right.

Balsamic Chicken

Ingredients:

5 whole chicken legs, with skin

2 pints whole tomatoes, skinned with juices

1 large sweet yellow onion, halved and sliced

1 t salt

1 t pepper

3 C chicken broth

1 C balsamic vinegar

1/2 C julienne fresh basil

Instructions:

In a large, heavy bottomed pot with lid over medium high heat, add olive oil to cover bottom and onion. Cook for a few minutes until just softened. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, broth and vinegar. Bring to a low boil, stirring regularly. Add basil and stir. Add chicken legs (includes thigh), fat side up. You may have to layer them. Cover and remove to a 300 degree oven. Cook for 1 hour. Remove lid and stir slightly. Put the lid back on and cook for another hour. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes. If you like, to thicken the sauce, remove the chicken to a platter. Combine 2 T softened butter with 3 T flour. Blend this with the sauce on the stove top over medium heat, stirring constantly. After a few minutes, the sauce will be thickened like a wonderful gravy.