Personally I'm a fan of a good meat loaf, if only because it's so easy to make, so versatile in serving and the left overs are almost worth it in and of themselves. This recipe is based on a few I found online, in recipe books and what was in my head all mashed together.
1 1/2 lbs of Ground Beef or Turkey
1/2 Cup of GF bread crumbs (I used Ener-G myself)
2 Eggs, Beaten
1/4 Cup chopped onions
1/2 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp Pepper
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Cup Water
Directions: Mix thoroughly, pack into a loaf pan. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 1 hour. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
I found that the fat/grease from the turkey coagulated on the edges of the loaf during baking and was easily removed. I have heard of meatloaf pans that basically allow you to drain the fat while cooking perhaps this would prevent that.
Serving Suggestions:
The standard, as far as I'm concerned, is to serve the loaf hot from the oven with mashed potatoes and brown gravy. Yum.
On the other hand I think left overs should be served on GF bread in sandwich form. Hot or cold. If hot, I recommend a little bit of ketchup to dip but other than that I'm not a fan of any toppings.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Veggie Dip
While it's not really my own recipe I wanted to recommend the recipe from Kill the Gluten for Veggie Dip. It worked out really well for us for the super bowl party we had. I did leave out the Green Onions and the Water Chestnuts.
For my contribution... I recommend the following to serve with the dip:
Two, yes two bunches of celery washed and cut into three inch chunks. Don't be afraid of the small yellow parts. They are light and crunchy, without some of the toughness the more mature parts of the bunch have. We had a dozen or so people and we really did almost go through two bunches.
A pack of tri-color peppers. The ones with one red, yellow and orange pepper. Cut into strips. This is more for presentation. I don't think anyone actually act them but it looked pretty AND you can freeze the strips for later cooking when you need them. (I made a nice batch of sausage peppers and onions with these left overs that I'll post the recipe for later)
Baby carrots. Can't go wrong here... Our grocery store has little bags of carrots pre-cleaned for kids lunches. Two of those little bags would have been probably the right amount, unless you know you have some carrot lovers. We got a "big" bag of baby carrots and it was too much.
Cherry tomatoes. We served these and... well... not so much... While they do taste good they don't have "edges" to scrape up dip and its a serving disaster.
Mushrooms. I recommend the pre-cleaned boxes you can get in the veggie section. Halve the big ones and leave the small ones alone. I love mushrooms myself and I'm willing to bet you'll have at least one closet fungi lover.
You could probably also serve with cauliflower or broccoli florets and you might have some luck with good crisp lettuce relations like Endive or something else that has some heft to it... Or serve the dip in half an endive or a scooped out artichoke or something creative like that.
For my contribution... I recommend the following to serve with the dip:
Two, yes two bunches of celery washed and cut into three inch chunks. Don't be afraid of the small yellow parts. They are light and crunchy, without some of the toughness the more mature parts of the bunch have. We had a dozen or so people and we really did almost go through two bunches.
A pack of tri-color peppers. The ones with one red, yellow and orange pepper. Cut into strips. This is more for presentation. I don't think anyone actually act them but it looked pretty AND you can freeze the strips for later cooking when you need them. (I made a nice batch of sausage peppers and onions with these left overs that I'll post the recipe for later)
Baby carrots. Can't go wrong here... Our grocery store has little bags of carrots pre-cleaned for kids lunches. Two of those little bags would have been probably the right amount, unless you know you have some carrot lovers. We got a "big" bag of baby carrots and it was too much.
Cherry tomatoes. We served these and... well... not so much... While they do taste good they don't have "edges" to scrape up dip and its a serving disaster.
Mushrooms. I recommend the pre-cleaned boxes you can get in the veggie section. Halve the big ones and leave the small ones alone. I love mushrooms myself and I'm willing to bet you'll have at least one closet fungi lover.
You could probably also serve with cauliflower or broccoli florets and you might have some luck with good crisp lettuce relations like Endive or something else that has some heft to it... Or serve the dip in half an endive or a scooped out artichoke or something creative like that.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Pumpkin Cheesecake
This is another recipe I got from my Dad. The end result has a creamy smooth pumpkin pie flavor. He claims it's based on a recipe from a cooking class he took but that he was too lazy to follow the steps and just mixed it all in a single bowl. Which works well enough for me.
16oz Cream Cheese (1 tub, or 2 bar packages)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
3 Eggs
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
Combine Cream Cheese, Sugar and Vanilla at medium speed in your mixer until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, mix well between each. Add pumpkin and spices. Mix until well blended.
Bake at 350° for 55 minutes. When done the filling will have swelled up and be a golden brown on top. It will shrink when cooled.
Variations and Serving Suggestions:
In a crust: We used a pre-made gluten free pie crust. I usually have a bit of pumpkin mix left over and make a crustless. Next time I think I'll try a graham cracker crust. (We have a GF Graham Cracker Crumb bag I forgot we had until after I made the pie). You really can't go wrong with this. Once baked, cooled and sliced I recommend a small dollop of Whipped Cream. I say small because this is already a creamy base.
Crustless: We have these ceramic dishes that are about 2 inches deep and about 6 inches in diameter. They work very well for the left over filling from a standard crusted pie.
Individual: I've been considering getting these little 2-3 inch diameter ramekins and doing them as individual serving size. It should work but I would check the cheese cake about 10-15 minutes earlier. Just in case.
This is always a hit with the guests. In fact it is was so much of a hit at Thanksgiving that making one for the Super Bowl was almost a given.
16oz Cream Cheese (1 tub, or 2 bar packages)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
3 Eggs
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
Combine Cream Cheese, Sugar and Vanilla at medium speed in your mixer until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, mix well between each. Add pumpkin and spices. Mix until well blended.
Bake at 350° for 55 minutes. When done the filling will have swelled up and be a golden brown on top. It will shrink when cooled.
Variations and Serving Suggestions:
In a crust: We used a pre-made gluten free pie crust. I usually have a bit of pumpkin mix left over and make a crustless. Next time I think I'll try a graham cracker crust. (We have a GF Graham Cracker Crumb bag I forgot we had until after I made the pie). You really can't go wrong with this. Once baked, cooled and sliced I recommend a small dollop of Whipped Cream. I say small because this is already a creamy base.
Crustless: We have these ceramic dishes that are about 2 inches deep and about 6 inches in diameter. They work very well for the left over filling from a standard crusted pie.
Individual: I've been considering getting these little 2-3 inch diameter ramekins and doing them as individual serving size. It should work but I would check the cheese cake about 10-15 minutes earlier. Just in case.
This is always a hit with the guests. In fact it is was so much of a hit at Thanksgiving that making one for the Super Bowl was almost a given.
Chili con Carne
This recipe comes to me from my dad with a few modifications since I like a chunky meaty chili with a very thick sauce. When I made this for the Super Bowl I didn't have Cayenne and substituted a dash or two of red pepper flakes and I think it made it a touch too spicy. So this is a work in progress.
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
1 lb Ground Turkey or Beef
1 lb Can Crushed Tomatos
1 6oz Can of Tomato Paste
2 8oz Cans of Kidney Beans (undrained)
3 Tsp Chili Powder
1/8 Tsp Salt
Dash of Cayenne Pepper
Brown the ground meat and onions, drain. Add everything else. Simmer for at LEAST 15 to 20 minutes. For our Super Bowl party I simmered everything for 2-3 hours. I had planned to put it into a crock pot but things got too hectic and I just left it in the pot I started it in.
Variations: According to my dad, the recipe base is 1/4 lb meat, 8oz tomato (crushed, puree, sauce, etc), 8oz beans and chili powder to taste. In other words the room for variation is pretty big depending on how thick, chunky, etc you want the final product. He suggests different (or several) variaties of beans, different meats and different tomato types.
Serving Suggestions: I recommend serving with a sprinkle of finely shredded sharp chedder either in a bowl or on spooned onto Ritz crackers.
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
1 lb Ground Turkey or Beef
1 lb Can Crushed Tomatos
1 6oz Can of Tomato Paste
2 8oz Cans of Kidney Beans (undrained)
3 Tsp Chili Powder
1/8 Tsp Salt
Dash of Cayenne Pepper
Brown the ground meat and onions, drain. Add everything else. Simmer for at LEAST 15 to 20 minutes. For our Super Bowl party I simmered everything for 2-3 hours. I had planned to put it into a crock pot but things got too hectic and I just left it in the pot I started it in.
Variations: According to my dad, the recipe base is 1/4 lb meat, 8oz tomato (crushed, puree, sauce, etc), 8oz beans and chili powder to taste. In other words the room for variation is pretty big depending on how thick, chunky, etc you want the final product. He suggests different (or several) variaties of beans, different meats and different tomato types.
Serving Suggestions: I recommend serving with a sprinkle of finely shredded sharp chedder either in a bowl or on spooned onto Ritz crackers.
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