Prosciutto and Onion Pasta

Posted on April 14, 2013

…Or as I like to call it: “The best cure for a pasta craving this side of Rome.” Chef Bill came up with this one afternoon when only a hot bowl of pasta would do. And while there’s nothing as lovely than al dente pasta bathed in a good Marinara sauce, tomatoes weren’t what our taste buds wanted. Since we’ve pretty much sworn off cow dairy and Alfredo sauces, the imaginative Chef Bill set about incorporating some key elements of flavor to tango properly with our penne, while leaving our health and digestive tracts unscathed.

The saltiness of the Prosciutto (thinly sliced Italian ham) and Peccorino (a sheep’s milk cheese similar to Parmasean) pair beautifully with the mildness of sauteed onions and the clean green of fresh parsley. Butter and olive oil are the emulsifying mortar that make this pasta dish taste, smell, and FEEL so good going down.

Prosciutto and Onion Pasta

1 bag gluten-free linguine (penne also works)

1 cup prosciutto, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

1 cup chopped onions

3 TBS. extra virgin olive oil

2 TBS. unsalted butter

3 TBS. chopped parsley

1/4 cup grated Peccorino cheese

1/3 cup reserved pasta water

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil pasta in a large stock pot until al dente (about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally)

While pasta is simmering, heat oil in a saute pan or wok on medium heat. Gently saute the onions until just glassine. Add prosciutto. Simmer with onions about two minutes, mixing well. Add butter until melted.

Strain pasta, reserving 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the water. Return drained pasta to pot and add pasta water. Toss together over low heat for about a minute. Add salt and pepper to taste, then pour in contents of the saute pan. Toss thoroughly. If it feels dry, drizzle with a bit more extra virgin olive oil. Serve in pasta bowls and garnish with Peccorino and parsley.

Prosciutto.Pasta

photo-573

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Dairy-Free Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Posted on April 4, 2013

It looks like there’s officially no limit to the ways I’ll disguise and reconfigure those all-important cruciferous vegetables into a side dish I actually, truly ENJOY. Here’s my latest invention, inspired by a recent dinner at Aventine, a fabulous trattoria and bar in Los Angeles. Their roasted cauliflower soup was so sublime, I almost asked for a second bowl. It was smooth, flavorful perfection. Though the waitress revealed there was a bit of cream in the recipe, it must have been miniscule, because it tasted clean with no cloying dairy aftertaste or post-meal cramping. It was actually that uncomfortable, innards-churning ride my stomach took after eating dairy that was the real factor in getting me to swear off cheese and milk products as a way of life four years ago. The weight peeling off my body was an added and greatly appreciated bonus.

To those new to the blog: I’m not indelibly rigid about the dairy rule. If the cheese is exceptional or necessary (IE, when I crave a cheeseburger), I indulge. Moderately. Case in point: Aventine had Buratta on the menu and I adore it, so Chef Bill and I split an appetizer of the snowy white ball of cheese that tastes hypnotically good. If you’ve never had the pleasure, Buratta is fresh mozzarella with a soft center of cream. Truly decadent. Truly an experience. And for me that evening, truly worth the deviation. Aventine’s Buratta was actually better than the Buratta I had while touring Puglia, where the stuff was invented. And because its preparation was so pure, there was no post-meal unpleasantness – Yaaay! Sometimes life just works out well. But, as I do so often when waxing poetic about food, I’m digressing. Back to Project Cruciferous:

I was in the mood to experiment yesterday so with a head of fresh cauliflower, a can of coconut milk, some leftover chicken stock, and a wild guess with the Garam Masala…I alchemized that bland and ho-hum head of cauliflower into something glorious!

If you’re concerned about the fat content, you can use light coconut milk. But per serving, it averages out to be very moderate in fat content. And it’s not animal fat anyway so it’s all good! I strained the schmaltz (chicken fat) from the broth with a mesh strainer and you could easily use vegetable stock if you prefer a vegan version. The key here is texture. And I didn’t have the patience to wield an immersion blender for the amount of time it would take to make the roughness of the cauliflower transmute to velvety smoothness, so I blended it in batches in a food processor. SO worth the effort.

Hope you try and enjoy!

Dairy-Free Cream of Cauliflower Soup A La Aventine

1 head of cauliflower, rinsed and cut into chunks

1 can coconut milk

3 cups of fat-strained chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon coconut crystals, sugar, or agave

In a medium stock pot or large saucepan, bring all ingredients to a boil. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until cauliflower is fork-tender. Let cool for a half-hour or so before pureeing. Puree in small batches – it’s the best way to ensure the cauliflower properly breaks down to yield a velvety smooth soup. If serving immediately, return to the pan and reheat on low heat, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn or stick.

Bon Appetit!

Cauliflower Bisque A La Aventine

Cauliflower Bisque A La Aventine

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Cornmeal “Buttermilk” Pancakes

Posted on March 27, 2013

This recipe was inspired by a recent Sunday Parade magazine that featured a roundup of some of the best breakfast places in the nation. I’ve always been a major lover of pancakes, and never gave them up after going gluten-free four years ago. I’ve experimented with many a batch and find that the addition of cornmeal or corn flour is an irresistible touch, adding body and an extra note of flavor.

I decided to modify this recipe from a breakfast Mecca in New Hampshire’s ski country and make it dairy-free as well as gluten-free. Unsweetened almond or coconut milk works fine in place of whole milk – and to materialize the buttermilk twang – simply add a tablespoon of white vinegar – viola! There’s one more cool feature of this pancake makeover that was born of an unintentional error. I was half-awake when preparing the batter this morning, so my sleepy brain didn’t compute that the addition of baking powder and soda aren’t necessary with all-purpose baking mix. However, the glitchette resulted in pancakes that are delightfully fluffy, almost pillow-like in the center. If you like ’em this way, proceed. If not, skip the leavening agents.

So here it is, the gluten and dairy-free version of the Cornmeal Buttermilk Pancakes served at Polly’s Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, N.H. – Enjoy!

1 1/4 cup unsweetened Almond Milk or Coconut Milk

1 TBS. White Vinegar

1 large egg

2 TBS. melted butter

In a separate bowl whisk:

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal (I had Goya white corn flour and it worked fine)

3/4 cup of gluten-free all purpose baking flour like Bob’s Red Mill, Namaste, Pamela’s, or Bisquick

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

pancakes

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Brownies with No Flour? Yes! (and they’re freakin’ GOOD)

Posted on March 9, 2013

Anyone who knows anything about me and my journey of dropping 185 pounds without surgery or dieting knows that Terri Lange (The Godmother of DDPYOGA) has played a key role in my success. From the start, she has guided and inspired me, offering a supportive ear and LOTS of sound, highly useful information. Terri has kept her weight off for more than a decade and at age 61, looks better than she did 20 years ago. That’s obviously fantastic, but what I love about Terri is she looks at health as an entire picture. In addition to being at a weight where she feels free, strong, and healthy, she lives a happy Life. Terri’s happiness is rooted in solid, healthy relationships with family and friends, in giving back through mentoring, and in engaging in a career that fulfills her.

Yet given all that, I was still skeptical when she told me she’d found a flourless brownie that dazzled the daylights out of her. Terri had decided to give the gluten-free sweets a bit of a rest, specifically those made with flour. Her nutritionist recommended desserts made with lentils instead of rice, tapioca, potato, sorghum, and all the other gluten-free flour options. I knew the time had come for me to give bean-based baking a whirl. As you can see from past blogs, I’d become a little too enamored with decadent GF desserts, that, while clean, still pack a punch in terms of calories and spiking the glycemic index.

I asked her to share the black bean brownie recipe that she said was her new favorite, and when I read the ingredients, my skepticism went into high gear. A can of black beans. Almond Butter. Agave. WHEEEEEEE!

But contempt prior to investigation is not a virtue, and my curiosity was piqued, so I tried the recipe. And even with a few amendments (based on the contents of my pantry), they were FABULOUS! To show how adaptable this recipe is, I made the following substitutions:

* 1 can of garbanzos for black beans

* A few squirts of Agave in place of the Coconut Crystals

* 1/3 cup of old, rather stale raisins soaked in warm coffee to bring ’em back in place of the dates

So have fun with this one…whether you follow it to the letter or not, I think you’ll love having a sweet-tooth alternative that actually pumps you up and keeps you clear-headed. I’m learning to love the difference.

Fudgy Black Bean Brownies

(A NO FLOUR BAKING RECEIPE)

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked black beans or canned no-salt added or low soduium black beans, drained (1 can works fine)

10 Medjool Dates–Pitted

2 TBS Raw Almond Butter (or any nut butter)

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened, non-alkalized Cocoa powder

1/2 cup of your favorite sweetner: Agave syrup, Coconut Crystals, Steevia, or Truvia.

1 TBSP Chia seeds (You can pack this with other healthy little things like flax seeds, unsweetened coconut, etc. Just watch amounts so it won’t be too dry). If it becomes too dry, throw in a little coffee or hot water.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

Blend the black beans, dates, almond butter and vanilla in a food processor or high powered blender until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend again. Texture will be chunky and dough-like, but spreadable. Pour into a very lightly oiled 8×8 inch baking pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Cool completely before cutting into small squares.

Suggested Topping:

Blend 2 frozen bananas, a handful of blueberries, and or some walnuts in a high speed blender or food processor and then top off the brownies.

Bean-Based, Yet Oddly Delicious

Bean-Based, Yet Oddly Delicious

Really...No Joke

Really…No Joke

Living Proof

Living Proof

OK now…these brownies won’t morph you into this just by eating them. Terri is a dedicated clean eater and regular practitioner of DDPYOGA.

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What A Meatball

Posted on March 2, 2013

Chef Bill out-did himself with his latest adaptation of a Food & Wine recipe of his that’s been in his clip file for years. With the simple insertion of Jillian’s gluten-free bread crumbs in place of regular, we dined on these amazingly flavorful, non-greasy chicken meatballs – perfect with a green salad. What a delicious way to end the day:

Amazing Chicken Meatballs

1 pound fresh ground chicken

2 eggs

3 ounces of pancetta, bacon, or Tasso ham

1 small chopped onion

Light olive oil or grapeseed oil for frying

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs

1 small can tomato paste

Preheat oven to 400

Saute the pancetta and chopped onion in a frying pan with enough oil to coat the pan and its contents. Saute over medium heat until onions are soft and pancetta is cooked, but not crisp (about 6 minutes). Set pan aside and let cool.

In mixing bowl, beat the eggs, then add ground chicken, parsley, breadcrumbs, and tomato paste. Mix all ingredients thoroughly and then add pancetta. Form meatballs (chef Bill made these the size of baseballs) and place on sprayed baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. These are so good, you don’t need sauce – dig in!

Gluten-Free Chicken Meatballs - a perfect dinner with a side of salad

Gluten-Free Chicken Meatballs – a perfect dinner with a side of salad

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