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.

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.

This has quickly become the new favorite dessert in our house, surpassing even my New York style cheesecake.  Peeling and slicing all of the apples can be time consuming, but overall it is a fairly simple. As the apples bake the released juices form a nice syrup in the bottom of the pan that is great over vanilla ice cream.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.  As always, be safe and eat well.

Filling:

12 large baking apples.
1/2c dried fruit.  Lately I’ve been using zante currants and dried cranberries.
1/2c brandy.
1c demerara sugar.
2T apple pie spice.
2T lemon juice.

Topping:

1c Oatmeal.  I have had no issue with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats.
1 stick butter.
1/2c brown sugar.
2T gluten free flour.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9×13″ pan.
2.  In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and mix until they resemble large coarse crumbs.
3.  In a large bowl mix everything but the apples and set aside.
4.  Core, peel, and slice the apples 1/4″ thick.
5.  Toss apples well with the sugar, fruit, and brand mixture.
6.  Spoon into the baking pan and cover with topping.
7.  Bake until the apples are tender, about 30-45 minutes.
8.  Serve immediately and enjoy.

After running out of pre-mixed Apple Pie Spice while making an apple cobbler I scrambled to find something to let me finish the recipe in time for New Years.  Some searches brought up a few different variants so I pulled a little from some and more from another and came up with the following.  If you use fresh ground nutmeg, it can be a bit piquant. Should you want something smoother, use pre-ground that has had some time to mellow.

4 parts Cinnamon
2 parts Nutmeg
1 part Allspice

These have become my quick, simple, go to cookies.  They are so good you wouldn’t know they are gluten free!

Makes 12-15 cookies.

1c Peanut Butter.  Smooth works, chunky is better.
1c Sugar.  Demerera or White.
1 Egg
1t Cinnamon
1/2t Nutmeg
1t Vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the sugar, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a large bowl.
3. Blend together until well mixed.
4. Add the peanut butter and continue to mix.  It will have the texture of course, wet sand.
5. Using your hands, roll the dough into 1 1/2″ balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Press each ball down with a fork until 1/3″ thick.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
7. Remove immediately to a cooling rack.

This recipe doesn’t need the bacon but the smoked flavor adds a nice depth.

1lb Brussels Sprouts
2T Olive Oil
2T Butter
1T Lemon Juice
4 slices of Bacon
Salt and Pepper to taste.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and trim the brussels sprouts. Halve them.
3. In a large bowl, toss the sprouts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Spread the sprouts out on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and place in the oven.
5. While the sprouts roast, cook the slices of bacon in a large frying pan over medium heat until done. Drain and reserve 1T of the drippings. Crumble the bacon.
6. After 20 minutes, turn the sprouts and let them cook for another 10-20 minutes until soft. Pull them and place into a large bowl.
7. Warm the frying pan and bacon drippings over medium low heat. Add the butter and lemon juice. Cook until the butter is melted and everything is hot.
8. Pour the butter, lemon juice, and bacon drippings over the sprouts. Toss with the crumbled bacon.
10. Serve and enjoy.

These green beans have become a hit at our dinner table and are now one of my signature dishes.  An easy recipe, it reheats well and makes a good leftover.  If you are planning to serve it with a meal, it is best to cook it to order.

1lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 2″ sections.
4 slices of bacon
2T apple cider vinegar
2T sugar
1T cornstarch
1/4c water

1. Fill a medium size pot with water. Salt if desired.
2. Bring to a boil and add the green beans, cooking until tender, about 15 minutes.
3. In a medium sized pan, over medium heat, cook the bacon to your liking.
4. Remove the bacon to a draining rack. Reserve 2T of the bacon drippings in the pan.
5. Return the pan to the heat and reduce to medium low.
6. Add the vinegar and sugar to the hot pan, stirring so everything is well mixed.
7. While this cooks for a minute or two, dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water.
8. Add the cornstarch and water to the pan and cook until it begins to thicken.
9. Remove from heat and toss with the green beans.
10. Chop up the bacon and add it to the dressed beans. Serve hot.

Be safe and eat well.

I received a subscription to Saveur magazine shortly before my Celiac diagnosis.  It has been a blessing while adjusting to a gluten free diet.  The tagline for the magazine is “Savor a World of Authentic Cuisine”, which includes a number of world cultures that do not regularly use any wheat products.  The December 2009 issue contains 16 gluten free recipes.  Of the remaining 15, there were several that could easily be converted to be gluten free by changing the flour used to something safe, or in the case of a lovely ham recipe, by using a GF Beer such as Bards.

If you don’t want to get a subscription, browse the website.  There are numerous recipes listed, again, many of which are safe as written.  Though I haven’t cooked a ton of recipes from the magazine, the ones I have were tasty and helped me through the initial feeling of deprivation that came with switching to a gluten free diet.

After several attempts at making Gluten Free Corn Bread, I developed this recipe.  It is dense and sweet, though not overly so.

1 1/4c Cornmeal
1c Masa Harina (I use the Maseca brand without issue.)
1/2c sugar
2t baking powder
1 1/2t xanthan gum
1t salt
2 large eggs
1c milk (I prefer 2 percent or whole cows milk, but soy or rice should be fine)
1/3c corn, canola, or soybean oil

• Place an 8×8 pan or 8″ cast iron pan in the oven and preheat both to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, combine the corn meal, masa harina, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Mix well.
• Add the eggs, milk and oil. Using an electric mixer, mix over medium speed until well blended. It will resemble a very thick cake batter.
• Remove the hot pan from the oven and very carefully grease it. Cooking spray makes this quick and easy.
• Spread the batter into the pan.
• Transfer to the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. The bread will have puffed up and brown around the edges when done. Serve immediately.

If you have any leftovers, wrap them in foil and keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. To reheat pop into a 250 degree oven until hot, about 15 minutes. It can also be frozen in plastic bags for several months.