We’ve had dreadful weather lately, and braving it out on the barbeque in the rain and the wind, hoping that summer would magically appear!  Well yesterday, the sun was out, and everyone rushed out in shorts and tank tops, madly pursuing summer activities, and I was thinking [...]]]> I sense a theme coming on — Easy Sunday dinners!

We’ve had dreadful weather lately, and braving it out on the barbeque in the rain and the wind, hoping that summer would magically appear!  Well yesterday, the sun was out, and everyone rushed out in shorts and tank tops, madly pursuing summer activities, and I was thinking we might even get to enjoy grilled pizza (and even eat it in the patio!) for our Sunday dinner.

Well we woke up this morning to rain … again.  Grilled pizza urges were suddenly dampened, and I found myself turning to winter-ish food cravings.  So tonight, we’re having black bean chili for dinner.

For a smaller amount I make this up in a 4 quart pressure cooker.  Yes, a pressure cooker Virginia.  You can easily double the recipe in a 7-8 quart pressure cooker.

…For those of you with childhood memories of the jiggle-top pressure cookers, and tomato sauce all over the ceiling, have no fear!  The modern versions have built-in safety valves, so they self-correct far before the point of explosion!  They are also very efficient and I far prefer my pressure cooker to a slow-cooker.  I find it preserves the texture and the flavours of individual ingredients far better than a day of stewing in the slow-cooker…   Back to your regularly scheduled programming

Chili is pretty easy to pull together, but I find there are a few things that help amp up the flavours and make a big difference.

• As with most dishes, take a bit of time to develop the flavours of the onions and garlic at the beginning
• Toast the spices before adding the meat, that way the meat browns even more with the spices.  You can do this all right in the pan, with the onions and garlic you’ve already sauteed.  The toasting really helps deepen the flavours.
• A little bit of cocoa powder added to the pot adds a great deal of depth — think of a mole sauce!
• Smoked paprika!  Once you start using this stuff, its hard to stop

The other favour you can do yourself here is cook your own beans from dried.  I know the canned beans are convenient, but dried beans are much more economical, AND you can control the amount of salt in your meals.  I cook the beans for about 30 minutes at high pressure — no soaking, no muss, no fuss!  You can also freeze cooked beans in a little of the cooking liquid, and add them just like you would use canned beans.

You can certainly make this in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan or a Dutch oven, but you will need to increase the cooking time.  The advantage of the pressure cooker, is that you can go from start to plating (including chopping) in under an hour, and still have about 20 minutes to enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail while the pressure cooker is doing its thing!

Sunday Night Black Bean Chili

• 1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1 medium onion, choppped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried epazote (optional)
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 pound ground bison (or substitute about 8 ounces organic tempeh, crumbled, to make this vegan)
• 1/2 large sweet pepper
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (try and find an organic, no-salt added)
• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and celery over medium heat in a pressure cooker until the onions are just starting to brown.  Add the garlic and spices (thru to smoked paprika) and cook until you can smell them starting to toast.   Add the meat and cook until the meat is almost cooked through.  Add the remaining spices and herbs, and all other ingredients, leaving the beans on the top.  Add up to 1/2 cup water.

Lock the lid on the pressure cooker, and bring up to pressure.  Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes, until all the flavours are melded.  Bring the pressure down, and serve with corn muffins, garlic toast (or however you like it!)

Serves 4 hungry people.

I tried some out a couple of [...]]]> Ive been doing a few trials with this new Timtana flour (for more on the flour, see my post from a couple of days ago), and while I don’t think its suited for more delicate baking, it works well in many of the yeast-raised breads and the more hearty quickbreads.

I tried some out a couple of days ago in the whole “grain”, gluten-free cinnamon buns that I make with sorghum.  These are much heartier than your typical fluffy white cinnamon buns, but they still feel like you are eating something treat-like.

I decided to try the Timtana flour in these instead of garfava, and also decided to switch to light buckwheat flour for the usual sorghum flour.  From the trials I have done, it appears that the optimal balance of starch:flour in order to have a somewhat open texture while boosting the nutritional value is equal parts of starch: flour.

These cinnamon buns are gluten-free, but also dairy-free and egg-free.  These are NOT a super fluffy cinnamon bun, but they do have an open texture, and are quite moist.  The addition of the Timtana flour appears to help create a nice moist dough that keeps fairly well over a day or two.  These remained as moist a day later, and didn’t develop the typical crumbliness of many gluten-free doughs.

Timtana and Buckwheat Cinnamon Buns

• 1 1/4 cups light buckwheat flour (150 grams)
• 1 cup Timtana flour (120 grams)
• 2/3 cup tapioca starch (80 grams)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch (64 grams)
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1 Tablespoon xantham gum
• 4 teaspoons granulated yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with a whisk

• 1 Tablespoon Ener-g egg replacer
• 4 Tablespoons cold water (60 ml)
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 cup vanilla soymilk at room temperature

Combine egg replacer with water and whisk or mix with a hand-mixer until very frothy, like egg whites.  Add the remaining wet ingredients and then fold in the dry ingredients.  Mix with the hand mixer for at least 1 minute, until the dough is smooth.

Place the dough on a cornstarch dusted silpat mat, and place a piece of plastic film overtop.  Roll out to a rectangle approx. 18 inches by 12 inches.

• 1/3 cup Earth Balance buttery flavoured shortening or other vegan shortening
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread the softened butter over the dough, leaving a 2″ border on one side.  Spread the sugar, cinnamon and raisins over the dough.  Roll up like a jelly-roll from the long-side.  Cut into 6-8 slices and place in a greased 9″ cake pan.  Cover loosely and let rise for 60 minutes, or until doubled in size.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, tenting with foil if they appear to be browning on top too quickly.  Glaze them if you like yours glazed.

Oops, almost forgot to link up to Yeastspotting — a weekly roundup of all things yeasty!

One of the things I like about them is the fact that you can combine them with all kinds of flavours — any way you want.  That way you can eat them in all kinds of forms — not [...]]]> I love meatballs.   Meaty goodness, in a bite-sized package — all the fun of meatloaf without the commitment!

One of the things I like about them is the fact that you can combine them with all kinds of flavours — any way you want.  That way you can eat them in all kinds of forms — not just restricted to the usual spaghetti and meatballs.

Cooking today, I had a hankering for the same meatballs I was preparing during the day, for our dinner at home — flavoured with a bit of orange zest, and filled with bulgur instead of breadcrumbs.  For our dinner, I decided to put them in pita bread and top with tzatziki (kind of like donair), and pair with a quick “cleanoutthefridge” greek salad.

Making meatballs is pretty basic: you need meat, some kind of binder, and some kind of flavouring.  With those basic parameters, its pretty easy to come up with gazillions of permutations and combinations.

For these: I started with extra lean ground beef as the meat, bulgur + egg + tomato paste as the binders, and orange zest + garlic + basil + oregano as the flavourings.

Next, these get all mixed up.  I almost always use my hands, partly because they do an efficient job of mixing, and partly because it allows me to feel the texture.  You want to mix everything well, but not to bash the life out of them or the meatballs will be pretty tough.  With the addition of the egg here, the mixture is slightly moist, but will hold together just fine in the end.  Then I measure these out.  I find a 1/4 cup measure or a large scoop just about right in terms of size.  This may seem a little obsessive, BUT, they will cook more evenly if they are all the same size!  When I shape them, I kind of slap them gently from one hand to another, which helps them to hold together.

I almost always bake my meatballs.  400 degrees, about 20 minutes, cooks them perfectly through.  Baking in the oven means that  I don’t have to worry about turning in the frypan, and I can spend that time chopping vegetables for a side-dish, or making a sauce if that’s my inclination that night.  (About the only time I fry meatballs is when I’m making Swedish Meatballs — the pan bits are essential for the sauce there!)

Finally, time to enjoy!  These were wrapped in a whole wheat naan bread, with tzatziki, and some quick greek salad on the side.  A quick but tasty weeknight dinner!

Play around with the basic ratios here — Food is supposed to be fun!!!

Meatballs v1.5

• 3/4 lb. xtra lean ground beef or other ground meat
• 1/3 cup bulgur, combined with 1/3 cup boiling water
• 3 T tomato paste
• 1 egg
• zest of 1/2 orange
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano

]]> http://realfoodmadeeasy.ca/2009/11/i-like-meatballs-so-much-im-blogging-about-them/feed/ 2 http://realfoodmadeeasy.ca/2009/10/gluten-free-sticky-toffee-pudding/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gluten-free-sticky-toffee-pudding http://realfoodmadeeasy.ca/2009/10/gluten-free-sticky-toffee-pudding/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:40:27 +0000 janice http://realfoodmadeeasy.ca/blog/?p=807 With fall weather in full force here, and winter on its way, my food thoughts are turning to comfort food: stews, baked casseroles, and of course, desserts that really feel like dessert!.

One of my favourite desserts is sticky toffee pudding, which I usually steam (not bake), and top with delicious toffee sauce.  I started thinking that [...]]]> With fall weather in full force here, and winter on its way, my food thoughts are turning to comfort food: stews, baked casseroles, and of course, desserts that really feel like dessert!.

One of my favourite desserts is sticky toffee pudding, which I usually steam (not bake), and top with delicious toffee sauce.  I started thinking that it wouldn’t be too hard to modify my usual recipe to make it gluten-free, and as it turned out, it wasn’t.

This doesn’t take too long to pull together, and I guess you could bake it rather than steam it, but I don’t think the texture is the same.  This has a nice fluffy texture, but is incredibly moist, chock full of dates.  The sauce is a basic butterscotch sauce with a splash of good rum added, just because!

Gluten-free Sticky Toffee Pudding

Makes 4 individual puddings

Printer Friendly Recipe (pdf)

Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Put a kettle on for boiling water.

• 2/3 cup whole dates, pitted and sliced
• 1/4 c + 2T warm water
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

Combine half the dates with the warm water and the baking soda, and let stand for 5 minutes to soften the dates

• 1/4c + 2T packed brown sugar

Combine the remaining dates with the brown sugar in a small food processor, and pulse until the sugar and dates are combined, and the dates are well chopped.

• 1/2 c + 2T gluten-free flour mix* (90 grams)
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/8 tsp. xantham gum
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk until everything is combined

• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 T. unsalted butter, melted

In a medium bowl, whisk (or mix with a hand mixer) the egg until it is foamy and begins to lighten in colour.  Add the brown sugar and dates from the food processor, and continue mixing.  Add the butter and vanilla, and the liquid from the soaking dates, and then add the dry ingredients.  Mix well until everything is combined.  Fold in the reserved date slices and portion into 4 buttered and floured ramekins.

Place the ramekins into a baking dish, and pour boiling water around the ramekins until about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Cover the baking dish with a greased piece of foil, making sure that the sides are crimped down, ensuring the steam doesn’t escape.

Bake for 35 minutes, until the puddings are puffed and spring back in the centres.  Remove from the water bath, and let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the ramekins.

• 4 T. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 1 T. dark rum

For the sauce, combine the melted butter with the brown sugar in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar melts and starts to bubble.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 2 minutes before adding the heavy cream and the rum.  The mixture should bubble up.  Continue whisking, and simmer for another 2-3 minutes until the sauce starts to get glossy bubbles.  Remove from heat, and keep warm.

To serve: Invert each pudding to remove from the ramekin.   Divide the toffee sauce among the four pudding, and pour overtop.

* I use a gluten-free flour blend consisting of 2 parts garfava flour, 1 part millet flour, 3 parts potato starch and 3 parts tapioca starch.  Each cup of this blend weighs 144 grams.

This fit the bill on all fronts, and is hearty enough to have for [...]]]> A while back, I  came up with a recipe fora sweet potato salad that a friend with a number of food restrictions would be able to enjoy.  Due to health issues, he was avoiding gluten, dairy, eggs, sugar, all citrus, corn and tomatoes.

This fit the bill on all fronts, and is hearty enough to have for a lunch, and interesting enough to have as a side dish for dinner, and because of the black beans combined with sweet potatoes, is filling.  The flavours are all southwestern — for maximum best flavour, make sure you take the time to toast the spices with the onions.  You can also leave out the cilantro for those who don’t care for it, and if you can eat citrus, adding the juice of half a lime will brighten the flavours even more.

• 3 medium yams cut into 3/4” dice
• 1 sweet bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans
• 2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil, or canola oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2-3 teaspoons chipotle Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the yams in a single layer on a half sheet pan or large cookie sheet.  Roast the yams, uncovered in the oven for 20 minutes, until tender when pierced with a knife.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.  When cool, place the yams in a large bowl.

While the yams are roasting, heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add salt to taste, and sauté until onions are soft and translucent.  Add the cumin, coriander and chili powder, and cook until lightly toasted.  Let cool slightly, and add to the bowl with the yams.

Add all the other ingredients to the bowl, and toss lightly to thoroughly mix everything.

Serve warm, or at room temperature.  Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

southwestern sweet potato and black bean salad (PRINTER FRIENDLY)