Instead of the more bookish and sporadic notes, today I figured I’d blog about the Brannan gluten free Thanksgiving. It was yummy and relatively easy. Hope it helps some who have struggled. Oh, these are also dairy free, egg free, and cane-sugar free. And free of other stuff too; the list of allergies around our table today is too long to list. If you have questions, feel free to follow up with me if you’d like (email is on sidebar).

It’s true, we had gluten free turkey, stuffing, gravy, and mashed potatoes. I only made the turkey, stuffing and gravy; my sister-in-law made the mashed potatoes and green beans. Oh, and my lovely wife made GF pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Mom T made the sweet potatoes & fruit salad. Yum, yum yum.

Gluten Free Turkey

Many turkeys are gluten free; you’ll need to check web sites to ensure. Costco’s turkeys were Foster Farms Fresh or something or other, and their web site confirmed their GF-ness. I popped it in a roaster, put lots of Earth Balance (non-dairy butter) between the skin and the breast meat, about 1/3 cup, salt, pepper, rosemary and sage. No stuffing in the bird. It was a 14lb bird, roasted for around 4 hours. Carved the turkey, reserved the drippings.

While the turkey was roasting, I made broth from the neck & giblets. This is very easy. Just put the parts in a saucepan. Fill with water until they’re covered. Bring to a boil, simmer over low heat for like 30 minutes. Strain, set aside; you’ll use this in the stuffing.

Some background at this point: We basically can’t buy anything that lists “spices” in the ingredient list. This means we can’t buy any chicken/beef/veggie stock at any store in the western world. Chicken and turkey stock is gold in our house. So after the the turkey was carved (I cooked it on Wednesday) it was time to make stock. I stuck all the stuff I didn’t put on the meat plate — bones, skin, fat, whatever — into a stock pot. Filled with water until everything was covered. Added some rosemary. Bring to boil, then simmer over low heat for 45-60 mins. Pull bones out, dispose of those. Strain, label containers, put in containers for freezer.

Back to the good stuff.

Gluten Free Stuffing

I winged this one and it turned out. My basic source was Betty Crocker’s recipe, modified as follows.

First, I used a loaf of Trader Joe’s GF Brown Rice Bread. This stuff is heavy. I cut each slice into cubes, then dried in the oven (like, 250 degrees for 10-15 mins). Then I chopped a medium sized onion into oblivion, melted 1/4-1/3 cup butter (Earth Balance) in a frying pan, added a bunch of garlic, and cooked it until the onions were happy.

Dumped the bread pieces into a big bowl. Then 2tbsp parsley (plus a little more); 2tbsp sage (plus a little more); salt, pepper, butter-onion mixture. I’m assuming you’ve done the research to know if your spices are GF. Then Betty’s recipe says 1/2 cup broth, but her recipe assumes you’re putting it in the bird, which will emit all sorts of juices into the stuffing. Instead I baked it seperately. So I needed more broth. I put in at least two cups, probably more like 3. Stirred like crazy. Put it into a casserole dish, mashed it down. This went into the fridge, I ended up cooking it for probably 45 mins on 350F.

Gluten Free Gravy

While the stuffing was turning from wonderful to awesome, I made gravy. Got the reserved drippings and warmed them up again. I also got some GF corn starch and rice milk. Probably at least 1/4 cup corn starch. Put it in a small bowl that has a tight lid. Then add some rice milk, enough to liquefy. Put lid on, shake like the dickens. When drippings are boiling, add the mixture to thicken. Whisk it. If not thick enough, repeat the thickening mixture bit. Simmer it for awhile, and you’re awesome. Add some salt and pepper if you wish.

That’s it.

See, not too hard. The key is to start with the bird, and only use the broth/etc. from the bird to make the other parts. For me, this works better if I do the bird the day before (Wednesday) then the stuffing/etc. the day of (Thursday).

Hope it helps y’all. All I know is it was awesome, and my wife (several food allergies) and sister-in-law (celiac) could enjoy it all too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today (Friday) was the annual Logos Soup Cookoff. I entered, but didn't win. In Logos Cookoff tradition, I made my own soup sign, so people would know what they were eating:

Here's the recipe, if you're interested. A little place just down the street from Logos, the La Vie en Rose bakery, has awesome soups for lunch. One soup they regularly serve is a Tomato-Sausage-Eggplant soup. That was my inspiration.

While Amy and I have been waiting (and waiting) for our baby to make its appearance (as of this writing, Amy is 9 days overdue) I've been doing a lot of grilling. After reading a few recipes I've concocted a simple and yummy quick marinade for white fish. Amy and I like pacific snapper or rockfish, which we've been getting fresh (if you're in B'ham, try the Pescadaria on Railroad by Starbucks) for around $5.50/lb. I'd guess it would be good on tilapia or even mahi-mahi (which we're laying off of until after the baby comes as it can have high mercury content).

Now, a short warning: I never measure stuff like this, so all amounts are very approximate.

Lemon-Dill Quick Marinade for White Fish

• olive oil
• lemon juice
• dill weed (dried or fresh)
• garlic powder
• salt & pepper

Basically, you're looking for a 3:1 mix of olive oil to lemon juice (so, try 3 tbsp olive oil to 1 tbsp lemon juice if you fear eyeballing your dumping and pouring). Sprinkle in a ton of dill -- more than you think you should, the fish should end up covered with the stuff. Then salt, paper and garlic powder to taste, but don't be bashful.

Do this in a small container that seals. Pop on the lid, shake it like crazy. It's ready.

Put your fish on some tinfoil and fold up the edges close around the fish so the liquid won't run all over. Spoon the liquid over the fish, make sure it is adequately covered. Pop it on a hot grill. Chances are it'll be done in 10 minutes (it's done when the fish flakes apart with a fork).

I'm thinking the same marinade might actually be good with chicken too.

If you're looking for something to eat along with the fish, head to the store and get some ears of yellow corn. It's in season and is relatively cheap. Amy and I got 3 ears for a dollar the other day, which is cheaper than canned corn, fresher, and tastier to boot. Cook these on the grill too. Here's how:

1. Pull husks back, but don't detatch. Remove silk. Put husks back in place.
2. Soak corn ears in cold water for at least 10 minutes. The water soaked up and captured by the husks will help steam the corn as it cooks, which makes for corn that's more moist -- and it should cook a little faster too.
3. Place on hot grill for, oh, 15 minutes. Turn 'em every five minutes or so until you think they're done.
4. Take off the grill. With your kitchen scissors, cut off the base of the husks as close to the ear as possible. Pull of the husks. It's handy to do this with an oven mitt on, the corn will be hot. If some cinders from the husk got on the corn, just rinse it with hot water. No biggie.
5. If you don't think the corn got done (maybe some spots look lighter than others) just put the shucked corn back on the grill for a few minutes.
6. Butter, salt and pepper ... then chow down.

So, get your grill hot. Put your corn on. Get your fish ready. Put it on too. It's all ready 'bout the same time.

Let me know how it goes!

Today was Logos Chili Day, but unfortunately I caught a bit of the flu or something, so I took off just before the festivities started.

But I did bring in my chili, which I made on the morning of July 4. And it turns out I came in second place! Now if I'd only been there to vote for my own chili ... maybe Eli wouldn't have won. But I'm sure his chili (called "Chilisaurus Rex") was yummy.

For Logos cook-offs, each entrant makes a sign. Mine is below, followed by the recipe.

Here's the recipe I based the Pork chile Verde on: http://pork.allrecipes.com/az/ChilVrdII.asp.

I did the following:

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs pork ribs, country style, no bones.
• 2 28oz cans Tomatillos
• 11 Jalapeno peppers (note: control heat by amount of Jalapenos)
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 massive walla walla sweet onion
• 3 tbsp garlic (or however much you want)
• Spices: Salt, Chili Powder, Red Pepper, "mexican seasoning", Ground Mexican oregano. Don't be bashful with these.

Process:

1. Cube ribs. Trim off major fat chunks but be sure to leave some fat there.
2. Pulverize Tomatillos and Cilantro in food processor (or blender, or whatever).
3. Pulverize Jalapenos (including seeds!) similarly.
4. Chop Onion (I used a food processor for this too).
5. Brown cubed pork in Dutch Oven. Do this with the spices (don't be shy!). I browned the pork in corn oil.
6. When brown, remove pork. Reserve 2 tbsp drippin's in pot, pour balance of drippin's in container with pork. Don't lose that juice, that's flavor!
7. Saute chopped onion & garlic in Dutch oven (in reserved drippin's).
8. Add pulverized jalapenos after a few minutes
9. Add Tomatillo/cilantro mixture after a few minutes
10. Add the cubed/browned pork after a few more minutes
11. Simmer for half an hour
12. Remove from heat, let sit in refrigerator for 3-4 days. Like Eli, I cooked on the morning of July 4 and let it sit in the fridge until I brought it in.
13. Heat in crock pot on high for 2.5 hours.
14. Turn heat down to low. It's ready to go!

Of course, you could probably just eat it at step 12; though I'd probably simmer 45 minutes to an hour if I was eating it the same day.

Enjoy!

Don't know what to cook? Looking for something a little exotic to spice up your menu?

I just noticed this book (originally published 1908) in Project Gutenberg: 365 Foreign Recipes. Stuff like:

• February 2: Haggis.
• February 8: Bombay Spinach (that actually sounds good!)
• March 7: Austrian Apple Strudel
• March 14: Spanish Stewed Rabbit

What's on the menu for today, April 27? Why, Vienna Milk Rolls, of course:

Sift 1-1/2 quarts of flour; add 1/2 teaspoonful of salt; work in a large tablespoonful of butter; then stir in 1/2 cup of milk with a piece of yeast dissolved in the milk and a teaspoonful of sugar. Beat all up well with 1 pint of milk; let raise over night. Roll out an inch thick; cut with a biscuit-cutter; rub with melted butter; lay in a buttered baking-pan; let raise one hour; then bake in a hot oven twenty minutes.

And what should my birthday meal be, according to the book? Belgian Chicken:

Cut a cooked chicken into pieces; add some slices of cold veal. Heat 1 cup of stock; add 1/4 teaspoonful of mustard, 1/2 teaspoonful of paprica, a pinch of white pepper and salt to taste. Add the chicken and 1 glass of sherry wine. Let all cook ten minutes. Add 3 tablespoonfuls of currant jelly. Serve hot with toasted croutons.

Enjoy!