German Potato Salad May 21, 2016

My son loves potatoes . . . and bacon . . . and he’s a teenager, so he’s a bottomless pit. He loves German potato salad.

9 potatoes

6 slices bacon

3/4 c. minced Vidalia onion

2 Tbs. Pamela’s gluten-free flour blend

2 Tbs. sugar

2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1/8 tsp. black pepper

3/4 c. water

3/4 c. apple cider vinegar

Cook potatoes. Drain.

Fry bacon. Remove from pan. Fry onions in bacon grease until tender. Combine flour, sugar, salt, pepper, celery seed, water and vinegar, and put in pan with the bacon grease and onion. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes and bacon. Stir to coat. Serve warm.

Refried Beans

When I had to go garlic free, I could no longer have a lot of prepared foods that had been safe on my no-gluten, no-dairy, no-soy diet. One of those things was refried beans, so I learned how to make my own.

1 Tbs. bacon grease

2 Tbs. minced Vidalia onion

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

pinch of salt

pinch of onion powder

pinch of oregano

1 15-oz can of black beans or kidney beans

1/4 c. chicken broth (homemade)

Fry onion in bacon grease until tender but not brown. Stir in everything else. Cook 5-10 minutes. Mash with potato masher.

Candied Bacon

Sure, we love bacon over here. Who doesn’t? So I thought I’d jump on the candied bacon craze. I looked over 5-6 recipes and combined and changed them.

Combine:

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Cover bacon with sugar-spice mix on both sides. Lay out on file. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 20-30 minutes.

 

Homemade “Ricearoni” or Rice Pilaf March 19, 2015

This is one of my kids’ favorite side dishes. And my husband isn’t a huge fan of rice, but even he agrees this one is tasty. I will put in the amounts for a serving size equal to the serving sizes in a regular box of Ricearoni. Be forewarned, I double, triple, or quadruple this recipe ever since the first time I made it.

1 Tbs. finely minced onion

1 tsp. finely minced garlic (optional, now that I can no longer tolerate garlic)

1/2 c. rice vermicelli noodles, broken into small pieces (I stick it in a plastic bag and use a mallet on it)

3/4 c. white jasmine or basmati rice

2 Tbs. soy-free Earth Balance

15 oz. chicken broth (I use homemade, which is salt-free)

1/2 tsp. sea salt (or more to taste)

Melt soy-free Earth Balance in a saucepan. Saute onion until tender (not browned). Add broken rice noodles and rice. Stir to coat. Add salt, and chicken broth. Turn to low, and cook until all the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. It takes about 20 minutes. I haven’t timed it for the double, triple, quadruple batches.

Dumplings February 19, 2013

1 c. gluten-free flour blend

2 tsp. corn-free baking powder

1/2 c. unflavored rice or coconut milk

2 Tbs. canola or olive oil or palm shortening

1/4-1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all together. Drop by tablespoons onto boiling soup or stew. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Herbed Wild Rice July 3, 2011

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/4 c. finely minced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1 1/2 c. Bob’s Red Mill wild & brown rice

1 tsp. sea salt

2 c. water

1 c. turkey or chicken broth

1 Tbs. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until oil is infused with flavor (just until soft, not browned). Mix in rice, salt, water, and broth. Bring to a boil. Turn to low, cover, and simmer for 45-55 minutes, until all moisture is absorbed. Add parsley and thyme just before serving.

Pomegranate Lemon Gelatin May 17, 2011

Going along with the theme of pomegranate lemon (the sorbet recipe came first), and feeding my new lust for all things gelatin, here’s the recipe I came up with last night…

1 1/2 Tbs. gelatin (I use Great Lakes pork, Knox is a combination of pork and beef)

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. cold water

1/2 c. beet or cane sugar

1 c. pomegranate juice

ice and water to equal 1 1/4 cups

Dissolve gelatin in lemon juice and cold water. Stir and let sit 5 minutes. Heat sugar and pomegranate juice to boiling. Combine gelatin and juice-sugar mixture. Stir to dissolve. Fill a measuring cup with half cup of ice, then fill with water to equal 1 1/4 cup. Add this to gelatin-juice, and stir until ice cubes are dissolved/melted. Pour into bowl and chill until 1/2″ on sides of dish are thick/almost set. Pour into chilled mixing bowl and beat on high with whip attachment until double in volume and pink (about 10 minutes). Pour into mold or bowl, and chill completely. Unmold or serve in mold. Frothy and delicious.

Bacon Veggie Risotto March 25, 2011

A couple of weeks ago I made risotto (for the 3rd or 4th time) and the whole family actually liked it. It was also a sheep’s milk cheese trial, which everyone liked in the risotto (except me) and everyone tolerated. This time, I wanted to add more flavor so it wouldn’t need the cheese, so I added bacon, because everything is better with bacon! I didn’t keep the broth simmering this time because I didn’t have room on the cook top, and this one actually came out very creamy. My son is already asking me to make this one again and we only had it last night.

5 slices bacon

2 green onions, diced (white part only)

3/4 c. broccoli florets

1/4 c. green peas

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 c. arborio or sushi rice

3/4 c. white wine

2 c. turkey or chicken broth

1 1/2 c. water (or more broth)

2 Tbs. parsley, chopped

1 Tbs. palm shortening

Fry the bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain.

Add green onions, broccoli, peas, garlic, rice and salt and pepper to bacon grease. Fry for 304 minutes, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Add wine to the saute pan. When it’s absorbed, add broth and water, half a cup at a time (stirring; don’t add more until the half cup is absorbed by the rice). It takes about 25 minutes to cook all the way through. The rice should not be mushy.

When rice is cooked, add crumbled bacon, parsley, and shortening to the rice, and stir until shortening is melted.

Black Beans and Rice January 12, 2011

I used to love black beans and rice, but I couldn’t figure out how to mimic the taste of the Goya Sazon seasoning packet, until I started experimenting….

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 c. minced onion

1/4 c. chopped green pepper

2 cloves minced garlic

1 15.5 oz. can of Black Beans (undrained)

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 c. water

1 tsp. sea salt

1 Tbs. safe vinegar

Saute onion, pepper, and garlic in oil over medium heat. Cook until tender, then stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Pierogies

Since my kids never liked pierogies, and my son can’t have potatoes anyway, which is my favorite filling, I didn’t try to find an egg substitute in the dough. And thank you, Linda, for giving me the original recipe, back when I could have normal ingredients, so I could figure out a way to make them under my current restricted diet.

Filling:

6 red potatoes, boiled

2 Tbs. palm shortening

2 Tbs. bacon grease

1/8 tsp. dry mustard

pinch garlic powder

1 tsp. sea salt

3 tsp. nutritional yeast

Dough:

4 eggs

1 c. tapioca starch

2 c. sorghum flour

2 c. light buckwheat flour

1 1/2 c. original almond or rice milk

1 tsp. sea salt

3 tsp. karaya gum

Mix all ingredients for filling. Mash.

Mix all ingredients for dough. Turn dough onto floured surface. Cut off a small piece of dough and roll out to 3/8″ thickness. Cover dough in between so it doesn’t dry out. Using a circle cutter, place rounds on trays lined with wax paper. Do not let edges touch, since they’ll stick together. Place filling in half of one round, fold over, and crimp the edges with a finger or a fork. When all are ready, bring a big pot of water to a boil. Boil each batch for 15-20 minutes (crowded pot is better because you don’t want the pierogies to tumble around too much or they’ll break open). Drain.

 I froze a lot of them since I’m the only one who eats them.

When I was ready to eat them, I heated up some bacon grease, and fried up the pierogies with some diced onions. Yum! Yum!