This is a great fruit salad recipe that goes together quickly and is available year round since the only fresh fruit you use are bananas.  Everything else is canned.  Though fresh is best, this really brightens up the holidays.  Thanks to PA Mom for the recipe.  You can see what she had to say about it in her original post:

http://www.frugalinpa.com/?p=82

• 1 can Oregon Brand Royal Anne Cherries (Wegmans and Karns carry them)
• 1 can pineapple tidbits in juice
• 1 can peaches in juice
• 1 can pears in juice
• 1/2 jar maraschino cherries – halved
• 1 can mandarin oranges in juice
• 6 fresh oranges, peeled and sectioned
• 1 lb red grapes, halved
• Sliced banana dipped in lemon to prevent browning

Mix the cherries, pineapple, peaches and pears and their juice in a large bowl. Add the maraschino cherries and about ¼ cup of their juice. Add the mandarin oranges but only add the juice if needed to cover fruit. Add the oranges and grapes. If storing, do not add the bananas until right before serving. Chill well.

The size of the cans is not really important since it is up to you how much of each fruit you want. If pieces in the can are large, cut them down to bite size. Try to get fruit in juice (with the exception of the Royal Anne  and maraschino cherries) whenever possible to cut down on the sweetness.  Even using small cans this recipe makes a lot.

is the title of the article in the April 1, 2010 edition of Family Circle magazine containing an assortment of gluten free recipes.  There are cook-from-scratch and product options.

Each of the recipes below are available on the Family Circle website, but you will need to register to see them.  Registration is free.

The recipes in the article include:

• Baked Penne with Turkey Meatballs.  Be careful, this recipe calls for cornflakes and many brands are coated with a malt syrup, which is not gluten free.  You will also need a package of gluten free Penne
• Chicken Scaloppine Al Marsala
• Thai Pork Wraps
• Glazed Chicken Drumsticks with Quinoa
• Southwestern Pizza.  You will need 2 9″ pre-made gluten free pizza crust for this recipe.  Whole Foods Market is recommended,  or you can always make your own.
• Tomatillo Shrimp Enchiladas

The title says it all.  King Arthur Flour has introduced a line of gluten free baking products.  As a big fan of the rest of their line I am glad to see this addition.  Baking was once one of my mainstays but I have not had a lot of success so far with gluten-free mixes or from scratch recipes.

King Arthur’s Gluten Free Line

I have had a craving for a steak lately and am thankful for my wife.  I asked and did receive from her latest grocery trip a 12oz Angus New York Strip.  As soon as I saw that thick piece of well marbled beef I knew exactly how to cook it: pan sear over high heat and finished in a 350 degree oven.

The sear creates a nice heavy crust on the outside.  Transferring it to the oven lowers the heat, allowing a nice slow finish, making it easier to control the temperature and monitor the progress. Total cooking time is about 16 minutes, 6 in the pan, 10 in the oven for  medium rare. Add 2 minutes for every degree up you want to go: medium, medium well, well.  For a great rare, just pull it out of the pan once you have the sear on.

I like at least a 1″ steak to cook like this.  Thinner steaks tend to be cooked too much by the time you are done with the sear, or just wind up tough.  Get the thicker cut.  You will thank yourself for it.

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• Pat the steak dry and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper or your favorite spice mixture.

• Heat a heavy cast iron or All Clad Stainless skillet over medium-high heat.

• Add your steak.  Cook on each side for 2 minutes.  Hold the edges to the hot pan for a minute or so until the whole thing is well seared.  Note: Depending on how much fat is rendered off of your meat, you may want to deglaze the pan and discard the drippings.  Make sure and use a room temperature or warmer deglazing liquid.  You could crack your cast iron or warp a lightweight pan.

• Once the entire steak is seared, pop it in the oven to finish.

• Enjoy!

The chips in the picture are Martin’s Waffle Cut Bar-B-Q, my favorite. And gluten free.

Note: I mention the All Clad Stainless by name for a reason: it holds up to anything and is a workhorse in the kitchen.  If I could own only one frying pan, my 12″ would be it.  It works on the stovetop and in the oven or broiler up to 500 degrees. I’ve also used it to pound chicken into cutlets, graham crackers for cheesecake crusts, and crack open walnuts for my daughter’s snack.  They are worth every penny, even though a single one can cost more than a complete inexpensive cooking set.  You don’t need a full set of them, but a single 10″ or 12″ should live in your cupboard.

The Kitchen Shoppe, in Carlisle, PA, is hosting a gluten free cooking class entitled “No  Flour Power – Gluten Free Foods!” with Chef Amber Clay and Jennifer McCahan, RD, LDN.

This class will deal with making a gluten free diet more flavorful and easier. Recipes include: goat cheese and roasted corn quesadillas, homemade pasta, pizza crust, blintzes, and marble snack cakes.

I am already signed up and looking forward to it.  If my previous experiences are any indication, it should be a great class.

My wife and I took a class at The Kitchen Shoppe several years ago and it was a very enjoyable experience.  The class size was around 20 people and everyone who asked was given individual attention.  The classroom and demonstration kitchen are setup so that no one is left out of the action and you can clearly see what is going on with the instructor, whatever  they are presenting.

The three hour class is $49.  You can get more information and register here:

http://www.kitchenshoppe.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=144368

Be safe, eat well, and I hope to see you there.

I have had it in my mind to do a post about food and menu planning when I ran across this story. A woman in Texas planned out her entire menu for a year and now shops around only what is on that schedule, buying in bulk and on sale whenever possible.  May it help you eat better on a smaller budget.

The news story (video):

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/consumer&id=7227646

Link to her 2009 Calendar (Pdf):

http://dig.abclocal.go.com/ktrk/ktrk_011910_dinnercalendar.pdf

In a bid to get her to subscribe my wife was recently sent a free copy of the Feb-Mar 2010 issue of MaryJanesFarm magazine. Much to our surprise has a number of organic gluten-free cake and cookie recipes just in time for Valentine’s day.  The article starts on page 68 and includes:

GF Chocolate Cupcakes
GF Cream Cheese Frosting
GF Peanut Butter Mini-Cheesecakes with Ganache Topping
GF Lemon Mini Cheesecakes
GF Lemon Frosting
GF Chocolate Snap Cookies

I haven’t had a chance to try any of the recipes but I’m really looking forward to trying the Chocolate Snaps. Grab a copy from your favorite bookstore before they take it off the shelf.

This is one of the easiest recipes to put together.  Because of that there is no reason to buy another pre-made crust again. This has also been used to great effect when entertaining my teenagers friends who can’t believe anyone would make pizza at home.

This crust can be used to make a nice Sicilian style if you bake it in a 9×9 pan, do a hand-tossed style if you roll it out into a 12″ round and bake it in a cast iron skillet, or a great thin crust if you roll it out good and flat and bake it on a cookie sheet.  If you have a baking stone, it improves considerably but it isn’t necessary.

One way to make making your pizzas easier is to get your toppings off the salad bar at the grocery store.  For a dollar or two you can get a nice assortment of onions, mushrooms, green peppers, ham, pepperoni, bacon, and more.  Much less expensive than buying them individually and saves you the time of all the prep work.  They keep for several days so you don’t need to make a special trip to get them, just plan as part of your regular shopping schedule.

This is not gluten free. I have not been able to make an acceptable gluten free pizza dough.  Yet.  Once I get one worked out it will be posted.

Though there is plenty time spent waiting for the yeast to proof and the final dough to rise, the total attended time is only 15 minutes spread over several hours.

Ingredients (per 12″ pie)

3/4c flour.  All purpose, whole wheat, and blends have worked equally well.

1/3c warm water.

1t sugar.

1T dry yeast.  SAF Red Instant Yeast is my preferred brand.

1t salt.

Directions

In a medium bowl, stir together the water and sugar.  Add the yeast to the top but do not mix it in. Wait 10 minutes for the yeast to proof.  The surface of the water should look foamy and the yeast should be easy to smell.  Stir the yeast into the water.

Slowly begin to mix in the flour until you have a big doughy mess and no more flour clinging to the bowl.  Sprinkle on the salt and turn into the dough a few times.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of the dough, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Once the dough has risen, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Punch down the dough and turn out onto a well floured surface.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Roll out into your desired shape, flouring the underside lightly before putting it onto your baking surface.

Top with whatever you like.  About a cup of cheese and a half cup of other toppings works well.

Bake until the dough is browned on the underside and any cheese is melted, 7-10 minute.  Serve immediately.

I use roux primarily for making dried beef gravy to be served over fried potatoes.  Making it with masa harina is just as effective as doing it with wheat based flours, but you must be mindful that the flavor is much different.  As it starts to take on color and lose the raw taste, it will start to taste like a fresh corn tortilla.  As it darkens it will become more nutty and develop an earthy undertone.

Ingredients:

Equal parts butter and masa.   1T of each per cup of liquid in the final dish is a good rule of thumb.  If you don’t like how it turns out, raise or lower that figure as appropriate.

In a heavy skillet or dutch oven melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Once it is melted slowly stir in the masa, stirring constantly, until well blended.  Cook until you reach your desired color, this can be anywhere from the light golden color of the just combined ingredients all the way through until it is the color of an old penny.  I like it a golden brown, as it has a nice roasted corn flavor.  Do not rush this process by turning up the heat!  You want a nice slow cook and color change to really bring out the flavor.

Once it has reached the color you like add it to the pot you wish to thicken and let it work it’s magic.

If you want to cook the roux ahead of time and save for future use, you can.  Put it in a tightly sealed container in your fridge and it will last a few weeks, but I prefer to cook it fresh as needed.  That rich smell of buttered corn is addicting.

Be safe and eat well.

The World Community Cookbooks, as I know them, consist of More-with-Less, Extending the Table…, and Simple in Season.  They were commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee, “in response to world food needs”, “to promote global understanding and celebrate the variety of world cultures”, and “to promote the understanding of how the food choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those who produce the food”, respectively.  Though these goals are laudable and I believe in the work the MCC does, I look to them primarily as excellent cookbooks.

Though the overall tone and recipes of each book varies, the underlying themes of each is to provide high quality, wholesome foods, with simple readily available ingredients.  Grab a book, flip to a page, and you can probably find something there that you can make right now. For a family always on the go or if you are a few days late getting to the grocery store due to a busy schedule, this can be a godsend.  With but a bit of planning around a few go-to recipes, you can always have the option for a quick, hot, home cooked meal.

Many of the recipes are also vegetarian friendly if you so desire, though vegans will probably want to look elsewhere.  This is important as my family and I look at eating less meat.  Even if you are not looking to do as we are, they are worth a look.  Individually these books are priced at $24.99 for the spiral bound editions, a few dollars less for the paperback, or you can get a boxed set of all three spiral bound for $55.99.  If you buy through those links you will be directly supporting the MCC and their mission of food and relief.

Be safe and eat well.