Balsamic Beef Stew

It's now been two years for me, eating gluten free. The husband is now at three and a half years. Our lives feel different than they used to.

More vibrant. Less crappy. More in focus. We're grateful. Things have changed a lot.

Move over, Dinty Moore.

Beef stew with tender chunks of beef, melty potatoes, and sunny carrots. It's the stuff that will warm you in the middle, keep you full for a long time, and the house smells divine while it's cooking.

Most recently, I made it while the husband was playing the newest Halo game. We were literally in the same room. He asked me the next day where the beef stew came from. Apparently he didn't noticed the scent of the beef and the tomato paste and the balsamic vinegar having a party.


I've decided that balsamic vinegar, as long as you've picked out a good one (aged and likely imported), has that dark and smoky tart taste that really accents meat. It does wonders for this beef. I have a particular chicken dish I like too where it's the crowning note, but it's not too overwhelming. Versatile, too, then.

Get yourself some good balsamic and go for the beef stew.

Last Year: Shredded Mexican Chicken
Two Years Ago: Gluten Free Reviews - California Pizza Kitchen (FAIL)
Three Years Ago: MegaWraps Review (not gluten free)

Balsamic Beef Stew
Loosely based on the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
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1 pound beef stew meat, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons millet flour
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups homemade stock (I used veggie)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon gluten free soy sauce
1 cup carrots, chopped on the bias
1 cup Russet potato, chopped into small cubes

Trim the fatty parts off the beef, and cut into bite-sized cubes, about 1/4 inch square. In a zip-top bag, shake the beef and millet flour together. When the beef pieces are covered in flour, brown the outside of the beef pieces in a large, heated saucepan with some oil.

Chop and add the onion, stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for an hour until the beef is tender.

Then, add tomato paste, Worcestershire, balsamic, gluten free soy sauce, and oregano. Chop the carrots and potatoes and add to the stew. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are firm but tender.

Serve with some hearty corn chips.

Keeps well in the fridge for several days, or in the freezer in individual portions for several months.

Gluten and Dairy Free Thanksgiving Recap 2011

What a wonderful blessed year! This year we bought a house, got married, ate dairy and gluten free, loved our jobs, the husband got amazing grades in school (not without some late nights by both of us), and we're still kicking!

We are also grateful for the classes he missed when he was sick, the early morning meetings at my work, the friends who have left this life this year, the 30+ houses we toured with our saintly patient real estate agent before coming back to "the one", the mixup on my credit report, the sprinkler I knocked out of the lawn that we replaced (not life-changing, but certainly not glamorous), the stress of getting married, long and tiring business trips with too few calls to hear the others' voice at the end of the line, and other battle scars from the year. They toughen us, and soften us all at once.

We shared a wonderful, completely gluten and dairy free Thanksgiving with my parents and our friend C. We ate in the afternoon, using my mom's China and her Czech crystal goblets, and a strange array of plastic and sundry serving bowls (there's always an eclectic and informal touch at our events). I had the seat opposite the window, and watched some of my parents' neighbors ride by in a wood wagon pulled by horses (not something we see in downtown), and watched the light change on the Wasatch Mountains. We stuffed ourselves, and then laid around on the floor of the living room, giggling in little bursts.

Later, we got up and shared pie, and then we trucked on home, with half-full dishes in the back seat and full hearts.

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful too.

Last Year: Gluten Free Thanksgiving Ideas
Two Years Ago: Thanksgiving Recap (2009)
Three Years Ago: Thanksgiving 2008, where we had yet to venture into pies, gravy or stuffing

We had oven baked ham by my lovely mother and carved by my father. We had yams baked into flaky submission, wrapped in foil, one of my mom's favorites.

I made a huge bowl of mashed potatoes, made dairy free of course. There was no photo because they were wrapped in tin foil at this point.

I also made some excellent brown rice flour/veggie stock gravy. I'm pretty proud of my homemade stock, thanks!

C's Family makes this wonderful raisin sauce to drown their ham with. A family tradition. We liked it too!

A huge pan of cornbread stuffing, studded with fragrant onions and celery, and made with more homemade veggie stock.

Beautiful fresh cut fruit by my mom. Huge strawberries, grapes the size of your head, and fresh pineapple (the husband's favorite).

A big batch of Western scone mix (also called Indian fry bread) done by my mom. We like the Augason Farms (formerly Blue Chip Group) mix, and my mom knows how to make them just right.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce made by me. No picture because it was sealed up in a less-than-formal plastic container on one end of the table. I made it with local Farnsworth Farms apple cider, too, which is a variation from my regular recipe.

A beautiful bowl of veggies, including carrots from my parents' garden! They leave them outside until they're ready to eat, and then bring them in. The carrots seemed to be so big that my mom cut the base of them into 4 pieces - huge!

County fair prize-winning Gluten Free Double-Crusted Apple Pie, made with this recipe for Sweet Pastry Dough. This one was even better than last year's. Rave reviews. The key to the beautiful golden top was to brush it with beaten egg before baking. It works wonders!

Last night, the husband was rustling around in the kitchen. He came out minutes later and confessed to "accidentally eating the rest of the apple pie." There was about 1/3 of it left at the time.

C's dairy-free pumpkin pie with toasted pecans. This was really delicious! She said the recipe came from Ginger Lemon Girl.

Dairy free Chocolate Pudding Pie. (Not pictured - we had it in the freezer). It contained two huge batches of my Raw Chocolate Pudding and was also made with the Sweet Pastry Dough crust.

Setting the finishing touches while my father "looked for the carving knife." What a delicious meal and wonderful company.

We have so much to be grateful for!

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

The days are short now. Hardly any time to catch some natural light. Just the remnants of summer sun captured by the last golden leaves in my yard, slowly waving toward the more representative, dried-out leaves in the other tree. I leave the house before it's really very bright, and usually come home just as the evening is resting on the eastern mountains.

There are some spectacular sunsets in November in Utah. Tiny veins of white on the Wasatch Mountains, and the shade of the fading light makes the uncovered portions of the mountains glow this brilliant blue, then turning into a dusty rose-purple color just before it's snuffed out into night. Here, it can look like the mountains set every night too.

I love it.

And with that, some decidedly fall food. Pumpkin bread? Cranberries? All in one sweet bread? Yes, please.

Last Year: Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Two Years Ago: Cranberry Sauce
Three Years Ago: Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Scones

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
adapted from this recipe
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1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice - or your own combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 cups granulated sugar
1 small (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.


Combine sorghum flour, millet flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and orange juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Sweet Potato Fries

I think you can learn a lot about food from the celebrity chefs. Not always from watching their shows, either. What I'm talking about are the comments section on Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Fries recipe. Basically, the folks who tried her recipe were terribly disappointed because, like many of the rest of us, they have tried a sweet potato fries recipe and ended up with soggy/burnt/inedible fries. This is nothing against Paula Deen - just a reflection of how frustrating it can be to make sweet potato fries!

These puppies aren't like your regular Russet fries. They require special treatment. They're somewhat dainty, compared to the hearty Western fare that generally busts out of my kitchen. I once bought a bag of "ready to bake" sweet potatoes fries from Costco, and they were disastrous as well.

Despite the stigma, they are surprisingly easy. You just have to keep certain things in mind.

So, I put my head down and did some research. I consulted the amazing Mel's Kitchen Cafe for their take on Sweet Potato Fries, the Paula Deen comments, and a bucket load of sweet potato fans on Allrecipes. That was just the beginning. I also headed in to my kitchen for several versions of experiments, using some beautiful sweet potatoes from the Monday Market sale. Several versions later, I think we have something worth throwing down next to a burger.

Here are the results from the science experiment.

Make sure there is no extra liquid on the outside. There shouldn't be any water from soaking (if that's what you choose to do). They should be patted dry. If you've just tossed them in olive oil and spices, leave the excess oil at the bottom of the bowl or bag. Too much oil on the baking sheet will just leave them soggy.

Air space. These guys need to breathe! When you are laying them out on the tray, make sure that they have space around them. They shouldn't be touching side to side, or laying on top of each other. This helps ensure air circulation around the fries, preventing soggy eats.

Use sugar to carmelize and crisp the outsides. Sugar can do some beautiful things, including making things crispy. You don't need a lot of sugar, just enough to help coat the outside. The olive oil-sugar reaction creates this perfect harmony of crispy-sweet that is perfect for sweet potatoes.

Preheat the pans. Before cutting your potatoes, pop your sheet trays in the oven. You'll likely even use two, in order to comply with Rule #2, and making sure that there is enough air space around the sweet potatoes. This helps create that satisfying sizzle when you are ready to drop the fries onto the pan for the first time, and quickly arrange them for baking.

A potato is a potato is a potato. Not so fast. The sweet potatoes you find in the store aren't actually yams, as some would be led to believe. I'm not going to get into that whole debate (because I would lose). You can read the Wikipedia on sweet potatoes for more information about its history and awesomeness. Still, sweet potatoes have a lower glycemic index, meaning less starch. The starch in Russet potatoes is what helps them be crispy on the outside when fried. It makes all our American favorites possible through its amazing properties. Still, the old Russet potato tricks, like soaking slices in water before making fries, don't work the same with the sweet potato.

Cut 'em right. Use all your Iron Chef knife skills to make sure they are as close to the same size as possible. Watch a video on julienne-ing. Toss out the little pieces so they don't burn.

Last Year: Cornflakes (or eating gluten free on the airplane)
Two Years Ago: Chicken Parmegiana
Three Years Ago: Pumpkin Chili



Sweet Potato Fries
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3 large sweet potatoes or yams, approximately 4-6 cups when julienned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Put two baking sheets with sides into the oven during the preheat process.
 
Peel and julienne the sweet potatoes to be about 3 inches long by 1/4 inch wide. Having evenly-sized pieces is the only way to even baking, and less burning.
 
In a bowl or zip bag, throw in the julienned sweet potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and add the spices. Shake around until all the pieces are covered with oil, sugar and spices. When removing them from the bowl or bag, scoop them out, rather than dump them, to prevent adding extra oil to the pan. Pull the sheet trays out of the oven. Carefully arrange the sweet potatoes on the preheated sheet trays.
 
Bake for 12-20 minutes, flipping the potatoes halfway through. You want tender and browned, with some tiny blisters on them.
 
Eat up! We served them with a roasted red pepper aioli.

Roasted Banana Cupcakes with Banana Rum (Dairy Free) Frosting

My parents just got back from visiting my little niece in another state. I can't admit to competing with a 3 year old, but I was really excited to go out on the town with my mom after she returned. Last night, we made it happen. We ended up hitting the Kohls (I'm in search of a lime green necklace that I like, not exactly what I would expect to find on store shelves in November, but still...) and trying on armfulls of clothes.

Mom went home with a winter-white cardigan, a floaty shirt with a blue patter on it, and a brown flowered shirt. I scored a pink ruffled shirt (at mega discount), a winter-white corduroy jacket (yippee!), and a blue patterned long-sleeve tee. No lime green necklace, but the time with my mom was really the treat of the evening. The more we spend time together, the more I see myself in her. Thankfully, she's great, so I'm not afraid of what I see.

These banana cupcakes also got sent home with my mom, in large quantities. She and my dad were able to take care of a large number of them, which the husband and I greatly appreciated.

Oh, and stayed tuned. I plan on sharing some wedding pictures this week.

Last Year: Cookies at home. Yes please.

Two Years Ago: Crispy Potato Skins

Three Years Ago: Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

Roasted Banana Cupcakes with Banana Rum (Dairy Free) Frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
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These cupcakes turn out fluffy, moist, and with good structure. The separating of the eggs, mixing the yolks into the other ingredients and then whipping the whites and folding them into the batter helps with the lift and structure of the cupcakes. It's easy to want to sidestep this part, but it really makes a difference!

Rum flavoring in the frosting is one of the best possible combinations with the deeper flavor of the roasted bananas.

3 roasted bananas*
2/3 cup sorghum flour
2/3 cup millet flour
2/3 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*Roasting bananas: Place bananas, with peel on, on a cookie sheet. In an oven preheated to 350 degrees, roast the bananas for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for a while, until they can be handled.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with papers. Roast bananas as shown above. In a medium bowl, sift together the sorghum flour, millet flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum. Remove the bananas from the oven and let them cool.

With a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, cream shortening and sugar until it's fluffy. Add egg yolks from separated eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add the roasted, peeled bananas and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream, and beating until combined. Add vanilla.

In another mixing bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold one third of the whites into the batter to lighten it. Gently fold in the remaining whites in two more batches.

Divide the batter in the muffin cups, filling about three quarters full. Bake the cupcakes about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then, remove the cupcakes from the muffin pan and place on a cooling rack until they are cool.

Prepare the frosting. Pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcakes and serve.

Banana Rum Frosting
1 ripe banana
imitation rum flavoring
Butter-flavored Crisco
powdered sugar
coconut milk

My awesome friend A is the author of the rum frosting recipe, and she really knows how it works. She hardly even measures. Just keeps changing what's going on in the stand mixer, and eventually there was an amazing frosting coming out of the mixer. So, if you're that person, the one that makes it appear, have at it. If not, well, I'll try and explain.

With about 1/3 cup butter-flavored Crisco, start whipping. Add in flavoring and 3 cups of powdered sugar. Slowly add alternating amounts of powdered sugar (to thicken), and coconut milk (to thin) the frosting. Toss in about half a chopped ripe banana for additional flavor.

Smoky Ham and Lentil Soup

Lentils don't exactly scream photogenic. But if you had a bowl of this warm and hammy soup, you wouldn't care if it took a good photo. I topped mine with chopped bell pepper to make it appeal to the eye a bit more.

This is great for throwing in the crockpot, it's also great for putting on the stove when you come home from work and then head out to rake the serious mountain of leaves that accumulated in the yard in the last 48 hours. Because that's when I raked the last time.

When Utah has these autumns that can really be classified as a beautiful, rain-less, Indian summer, rather than a really wet and rainy fall, it confuses the trees. My trees (which surround my house on 4 sides, well 5 sides if you count above) were dropping big fronds of green leaves yesterday. As I pulled out our new rake from Ace Hardware and got busy, there was still a flurry of leaves swirling around me as they pulled from their summer homes in the trees and fluttered down to my feet. I was wearing shorts and flip flops, mind you. Not a bad scenario for raking.



The front yard a few days ago. I've raked 12 garbage cans since then (and there's more to go!)



I gathered up huge piles in the front yard, and then a few more in the back yard, before I was tuckered out. I have a small garbage can (probably 30 gallons), that I drag around with me and dump overflowing armfuls of leaves into. Then, I drag it to the very back edge of the yard and put it in our compost. The pile near the back fence is taller than me!

When I came back in the house, the smoky ham simmering with the lentils was all I could smell. I sat down for a big bowl and enjoyed the autumness of it all.

Last Year: Ginger Bars

Two Years Ago: Cinnamon Apple Muffins and Herbed Focaccia Bread

Three Years Ago: Almond Poppyseed Muffins

Smoky Ham and Lentil Soup

adapted from this recipe
[Printer Friendly]

1 pound dry lentils, rinsed

6-8 ounces smoked ham, diced
4 cups stock + 4 cups water
3/4 cup celery, diced
3/4 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup carrot, diced

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon oregano flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper
hot sauce (optional)
liquid smoke, a few drops (optional)

In a stock pot, combine lentils, ham, water and stock and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients; simmer until veggies are tender, about 20 minutes.

If you wish to puree: remove 3 cups of lentils, broth and veggies (keep diced ham in soup pot); puree, return to soup and stir.

For the crockpot: place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on LOW for about 10 hours; puree before serving (as above) if you want.