Making BBQ sauce is extremely easy. It's about the only way I can make sure that the sauce is safe to serve to my gluten-free friends and still tastes good. Both of these recipes are from Cooking Light magazine.
The first should be flavors you recognize- Gates BBQ from Kansas City!
Kansas City BBQ Sauce
Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan:
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 cup water
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon onion powder (I've made it with fresh onion, too - just grate it and add a little extra)
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 Tablespoons molasses
3/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon smoked salt (McCormick makes some, so you should be able to find it in the grocery store. It's a great addition to steamed vegetables if you want a little different flavor. Dan actually smokes his own. If we have any the next time you are in town, we'll send some home with you!)
Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 25 minutes.
As far as I can tell, this keeps for months. It makes 2 1/2 cups of sauce, so you'll have plenty to share with friends if you don't want that much. It's great over chicken or pork
Memphis BBQ sauce
This has a slight mustard flavor. My favorite way to eat it is over pulled pork with the coleslaw recipe below on top.
Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan:
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup white (plain) vinegar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon onion powder (again, use grated fresh if you don't have the dried)
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (Check to make sure it's gluten-free)
2 Tablespoons mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Best served warm, but leftovers come out cold at my house and I haven't heard anyone complain :-).
Memphis Coleslaw
This is a slightly different coleslaw that isn't sweet. I like it by itself, but it's really good on pulled pork with the Memphis BBQ sauce.
Combine in a large bowl:
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 Tablespoons mustard
1 1/2 Tablespoons white (plain) vinegar
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Add and toss to coat:
6 cups chopped green cabbage
-Jennifer
Showing posts with label basics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basics. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Bulk cooking for one?
It seems a little crazy, but you can do some bulk buying and cooking for one. It's a great way to save money and make sure that the ingredients you are using are definitely gluten free.
I was thinking about this as we were getting ready for the arrival of my gluten-intolerant friends from Texas. My friend Lynn comes to visit when I have a baby for about three weeks to help around the house with laundry, cooking, cleaning, kid-watching, etc. (we do the same for her when she has a baby) It's a great arrangement! I wanted to make things easy for her to feed my 4 older kids and her 3 kids. It can be a challenge when we're both up and running and becomes really challenging when one of us is hanging out in bed!
Anyway, to make things run smoothly it works best if we don't have to worry about cooking meat or beans; ingredients we need for almost every meal. Sometimes, you just want to grab already prepared ingredients, throw them together and feed a pile of people. Since we can't have most of the easy, pre-prepared/processed foods, we make our own. Some of what you can do will depend on your freezer space. Investing in a small chest freezer may be a good idea if you find that you enjoy cooking this way.
Quick Note on Containers
You can re-use sour cream or yogurt containers if they have lids, or you can buy the re-usable/disposable gladware style containers you find in the store. Both are easy to label and stack. I don't recommend using ziplock bags- they break easily and it is difficult to do quick thaws- especially if you are using a microwave to thaw. Empty mayo and pickle jars are also handy to have on hand for saving leftovers in the fridge. However, freezing with them can be difficult since glass doesn't give the same way plastic does and you can end up with broken jars in your freezer.
Roasted chicken
I have a lot of mouths to feed, so I cook 4 chickens at a time when they go on sale. It takes the same amount of time in the oven for 4 as it does for one. Then, I strip the chicken from the bones, chop it and put it into freezer containers that are about what I need for one recipe. For me, that's 2-3 cup containers. For you, one cup containers probably make more sense. I'll use this to put together things like the Tabbouleh salad or chicken tacos as well as a quick lunch where I grab chicken and frozen peas, thaw them and put them in front of the kids. Protein and a vegetable make lunch, right?
Recipe for Roasted Chicken:
Rinse chicken and remove the giblet bag (very important! I've had friends accidentally cook the chicken with the bag in it...yuck!). Make sure the chicken is all the way thawed. If it starts frozen in the middle, it will stay raw in the middle and overcook on the outside. My quick and dirty way to flavor it is to peel and quarter an onion and stuff it inside the chicken. You can also halve and throw a lemon or orange in for flavor if you have an old one in your fruit drawer... Then rub olive oil inside and outside the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you can stick some salt and pepper under the skin on the breast, it's even better. Put in in a casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. If you prick the leg or thigh the juices will run clear. It should register at 175 on a meat thermometer.
Roasted pork
This works on the same principle as the chicken. I use pork shoulder roasts, since they are inexpensive. They have the added benefit of being very tender and forgiving. Its hard to mess up a pork shoulder. There's quite a bit of fat in it, so it can be cooked multiple times without much trouble. It shreds well for pork tacos or sandwiches. It's also darned tasty fresh from the oven!
Recipe for Roasted Pork
Get a rub you like, or mix equal parts salt, pepper, cumin, chile powder, paprika, and brown sugar (start with a tablespoon of each) then add a teaspoon of red pepper if you like a little spice (or more to taste) and a dash of nutmeg. Rub it all over the outside of the pork roast and put it in a 325 degree oven for four hours. This WILL heat your house up, so I usually do this when the weather is getting cooler. The roast is done when a meat thermometer reaches 185 in the thickest part of the roast, near the bone. At this point Dan and the kids start picking bits off the outside of the roast - samples are big in our house! Let it "rest" for 15 minutes so the juices can re-distribute throughout, then carve into whatever you want to serve. You can do 1/2 inch slices and serve with vegetables for dinner, then chop the rest into recipe-sized chunks and freeze in 1 cup containers for easy snacks, meals and recipe-sized portions.
Dried Beans
Dried beans are significantly cheaper than buying them canned, but if you're doing them on the stovetop, they take forever and are kind of a pain. However, if you have access to a crockpot, you can soak the beans overnight in a bowl, then throw them in the crockpot with an onion and any spices you like, cover them with water that goes about 2 inches above the level of the beans and turn the crockpot on low for 10 hours. They end up about perfect. Then, you can use what you'd like and portion the rest out into your freezer. If you are going to freeze the beans, I find it best to drain them before freezing so they come out looking like beans instead of mush. If you make a lot of bean soups, though, you can freeze it with the liquid. I'll try to remember post my favorite black bean soup recipe for you.
Boy this ended up being a long post. I hope it's a little useful as something besides bedtime reading when you're suffering from insomnia!
-Jennifer (with quite a few edits from Dan)
I was thinking about this as we were getting ready for the arrival of my gluten-intolerant friends from Texas. My friend Lynn comes to visit when I have a baby for about three weeks to help around the house with laundry, cooking, cleaning, kid-watching, etc. (we do the same for her when she has a baby) It's a great arrangement! I wanted to make things easy for her to feed my 4 older kids and her 3 kids. It can be a challenge when we're both up and running and becomes really challenging when one of us is hanging out in bed!
Anyway, to make things run smoothly it works best if we don't have to worry about cooking meat or beans; ingredients we need for almost every meal. Sometimes, you just want to grab already prepared ingredients, throw them together and feed a pile of people. Since we can't have most of the easy, pre-prepared/processed foods, we make our own. Some of what you can do will depend on your freezer space. Investing in a small chest freezer may be a good idea if you find that you enjoy cooking this way.
Quick Note on Containers
You can re-use sour cream or yogurt containers if they have lids, or you can buy the re-usable/disposable gladware style containers you find in the store. Both are easy to label and stack. I don't recommend using ziplock bags- they break easily and it is difficult to do quick thaws- especially if you are using a microwave to thaw. Empty mayo and pickle jars are also handy to have on hand for saving leftovers in the fridge. However, freezing with them can be difficult since glass doesn't give the same way plastic does and you can end up with broken jars in your freezer.
Roasted chicken
I have a lot of mouths to feed, so I cook 4 chickens at a time when they go on sale. It takes the same amount of time in the oven for 4 as it does for one. Then, I strip the chicken from the bones, chop it and put it into freezer containers that are about what I need for one recipe. For me, that's 2-3 cup containers. For you, one cup containers probably make more sense. I'll use this to put together things like the Tabbouleh salad or chicken tacos as well as a quick lunch where I grab chicken and frozen peas, thaw them and put them in front of the kids. Protein and a vegetable make lunch, right?
Recipe for Roasted Chicken:
Rinse chicken and remove the giblet bag (very important! I've had friends accidentally cook the chicken with the bag in it...yuck!). Make sure the chicken is all the way thawed. If it starts frozen in the middle, it will stay raw in the middle and overcook on the outside. My quick and dirty way to flavor it is to peel and quarter an onion and stuff it inside the chicken. You can also halve and throw a lemon or orange in for flavor if you have an old one in your fruit drawer... Then rub olive oil inside and outside the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you can stick some salt and pepper under the skin on the breast, it's even better. Put in in a casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. If you prick the leg or thigh the juices will run clear. It should register at 175 on a meat thermometer.
Roasted pork
This works on the same principle as the chicken. I use pork shoulder roasts, since they are inexpensive. They have the added benefit of being very tender and forgiving. Its hard to mess up a pork shoulder. There's quite a bit of fat in it, so it can be cooked multiple times without much trouble. It shreds well for pork tacos or sandwiches. It's also darned tasty fresh from the oven!
Recipe for Roasted Pork
Get a rub you like, or mix equal parts salt, pepper, cumin, chile powder, paprika, and brown sugar (start with a tablespoon of each) then add a teaspoon of red pepper if you like a little spice (or more to taste) and a dash of nutmeg. Rub it all over the outside of the pork roast and put it in a 325 degree oven for four hours. This WILL heat your house up, so I usually do this when the weather is getting cooler. The roast is done when a meat thermometer reaches 185 in the thickest part of the roast, near the bone. At this point Dan and the kids start picking bits off the outside of the roast - samples are big in our house! Let it "rest" for 15 minutes so the juices can re-distribute throughout, then carve into whatever you want to serve. You can do 1/2 inch slices and serve with vegetables for dinner, then chop the rest into recipe-sized chunks and freeze in 1 cup containers for easy snacks, meals and recipe-sized portions.
Dried Beans
Dried beans are significantly cheaper than buying them canned, but if you're doing them on the stovetop, they take forever and are kind of a pain. However, if you have access to a crockpot, you can soak the beans overnight in a bowl, then throw them in the crockpot with an onion and any spices you like, cover them with water that goes about 2 inches above the level of the beans and turn the crockpot on low for 10 hours. They end up about perfect. Then, you can use what you'd like and portion the rest out into your freezer. If you are going to freeze the beans, I find it best to drain them before freezing so they come out looking like beans instead of mush. If you make a lot of bean soups, though, you can freeze it with the liquid. I'll try to remember post my favorite black bean soup recipe for you.
Boy this ended up being a long post. I hope it's a little useful as something besides bedtime reading when you're suffering from insomnia!
-Jennifer (with quite a few edits from Dan)
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Tortillas and tortilla chips
Tortillas
We love to make our own tortillas. It's fairly quick and makes corn tortillas so much better!
2 cups masa harina (Maseca brand is the easiest to find. Usually it's in the ethnic food section near the salsas)
1 cup water
Mix them together thoroughly. It's about the consistency of playdough when you have it right.
Roll it into balls - about 1-inch in diameter, or a little larger, depending on your preference in tortilla size.
Put a ziploc plastic bag on the table. Put one ball on top of the bag. Cover it with another ziploc bag. Take the heaviest pan you have and squash out the ball until it's flat. (If you can find a tortilla press, use the plastic bags inside the tortilla press, but it's a bit easier to squash it out flat.)
Preheat a griddle or pan (again, the cast iron is great here, but any skillet will work) over medium-high heat. Don't put any fat in the pan, just leave it dry. Place your tortilla on the pan. After 1-2 minutes, it should be easy to slide the tortilla. If it's not, let it go a little longer until it is. Flip it and heat the other side for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Again, it should be easy to slide. Put the finished tortilla in a towel and cover it to keep it warm and moist until you've finished making tortillas.
These are great with a little butter and salt while they are hot. Obviously, they work for tacos. They are also handy for rolling anything you might like in a sandwich - meat, cheese, veggies, etc.
Tortilla Chips
You can use the homemade tortillas or store-bought tortillas to make your own chips. These are especially good for chilaquilles. Unlike store-bought chips, though, they can't really be stored. You have to make them and serve them within a short amount of time. They can be freshened by putting them in medium-hot (350-400 degree) oven for about 5 minutes, but they aren't quite as good.
Slice your tortillas any way you like - strips, wedges, etc.
Use a medium sauce pan.
Add 1/2 inch of canola or vegetable oil.
Heat it over medium-high heat until when you throw in a tortilla piece it sizzles.
Add a handful of tortilla pieces. You can stir them a little with a wooden spoon as they cook. It will take 3-5 minutes, depending on how thick the pieces are, but when they are crisp, take them out and put them on a paper-towel lined plate. When you've fried all of them, add a little salt.
In both of these cases, the easiest thing to do is buy the tortillas or chips, but sometimes it's nice to make them yourself. It's also a handy way of knowing what went into them. I prefer canola oil to many of the other oils for frying things like this. Who knows what the final research will prove, but canola seems to have better reviews from the nutritionists than many others do.
We love to make our own tortillas. It's fairly quick and makes corn tortillas so much better!
2 cups masa harina (Maseca brand is the easiest to find. Usually it's in the ethnic food section near the salsas)
1 cup water
Mix them together thoroughly. It's about the consistency of playdough when you have it right.
Roll it into balls - about 1-inch in diameter, or a little larger, depending on your preference in tortilla size.
Put a ziploc plastic bag on the table. Put one ball on top of the bag. Cover it with another ziploc bag. Take the heaviest pan you have and squash out the ball until it's flat. (If you can find a tortilla press, use the plastic bags inside the tortilla press, but it's a bit easier to squash it out flat.)
Preheat a griddle or pan (again, the cast iron is great here, but any skillet will work) over medium-high heat. Don't put any fat in the pan, just leave it dry. Place your tortilla on the pan. After 1-2 minutes, it should be easy to slide the tortilla. If it's not, let it go a little longer until it is. Flip it and heat the other side for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Again, it should be easy to slide. Put the finished tortilla in a towel and cover it to keep it warm and moist until you've finished making tortillas.
These are great with a little butter and salt while they are hot. Obviously, they work for tacos. They are also handy for rolling anything you might like in a sandwich - meat, cheese, veggies, etc.
Tortilla Chips
You can use the homemade tortillas or store-bought tortillas to make your own chips. These are especially good for chilaquilles. Unlike store-bought chips, though, they can't really be stored. You have to make them and serve them within a short amount of time. They can be freshened by putting them in medium-hot (350-400 degree) oven for about 5 minutes, but they aren't quite as good.
Slice your tortillas any way you like - strips, wedges, etc.
Use a medium sauce pan.
Add 1/2 inch of canola or vegetable oil.
Heat it over medium-high heat until when you throw in a tortilla piece it sizzles.
Add a handful of tortilla pieces. You can stir them a little with a wooden spoon as they cook. It will take 3-5 minutes, depending on how thick the pieces are, but when they are crisp, take them out and put them on a paper-towel lined plate. When you've fried all of them, add a little salt.
In both of these cases, the easiest thing to do is buy the tortillas or chips, but sometimes it's nice to make them yourself. It's also a handy way of knowing what went into them. I prefer canola oil to many of the other oils for frying things like this. Who knows what the final research will prove, but canola seems to have better reviews from the nutritionists than many others do.
Basic Kitchen Equipment
I am assuming you've probably got your kitchen fairly well stocked,
since your mom just left. Sorry I didn't get this list to you sooner.
Dan and I were talking about what things we thought were most important to have in your kitchen. Here's our first pass at what we would try to have.
-cheap, but decent non-stick skillet
-small sauce pan
-large sauce pan
-soup pot
-cutting board
-decent knives (this is the one place I would spend a little more)
--a paring knife and a big carving knife are sufficient to start out, but you want something that can be sharpened and will keep and edge.
-mixing bowls (make sure there's at least one large one)
-plastic spatula
-plastic mixing spoon
-whisk (if you can find one that won't scratch non-stick, those are great)
-wooden spoon -measuring cups
-measuring spoons
-liquid measuring cup
-garlic press (unless you like the smell of garlic on your hands)
-small strainer/fine mesh sieve
-blender or food processor (both if you have space)
-One of our favorite kitchen pans is cast iron, but it's kind of a pain to season it. If your mom or grandma has one for you, take it! It's like having one of the really great,expensive pans, but you can almost never ruin it. If you forget and leave water in it, you just sand and re-season it. However, it's not necessary in a small kitchen.
Spices- If you have a Penzy's store in Kansas City, their spices are all wonderful and it is my understanding that they are all Gluten free. They end up being pretty close to the same price as grocery store brand, only you use less because they are fresher and more powerful. Don't buy spices at Aldi, as it is one of the things they tell you may be cross-contaminated.
We use these a lot:
-Chili powder
-Cayenne or Ground Red Pepper
-Cumin
-Oregano
-Mexican Oregano
-Basil
-Thyme
-Rosemary
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Vanilla
-Almond Extract
-Salt and Pepper (of course!)
Once you have the basic equipment and spices, the rest is pantry and perishables. In my pantry, I almost always have-
-Cornmeal
-Corn Starch
-Masa (Maseca brand is gluten-free and probably the easiest to find)
-Quinoa (it's a little tougher to find, so let me know if you need some and I'll ship it to you. It cooks as fast as white rice, but has a lot more fiber and protein. It's what I used to make the "tabbouleh" that we had for Heather's shower)
-Brown Rice (I prefer brown basmati, but others really like short grain brown)
-White Rice (sometimes, you just need it done fast or a little stickier than brown rice)
-black beans
-refried beans
-white beans of some sort (great northern or cannellini)
-garbanzo beans
-salsa
-canned tomatoes
-tomato sauce
-red wine vinegar
-white vinegar
-balsamic vinegar
-cider vinegar
-rice vinegar
-olive oil
-canola oil
-canned broth (chicken is easiest and most versatile - really watch labels here, since they seem to randomly add gluten where it's not necessary)
I usually keep a few bags of various frozen vegetables around. One of the easiest meals is rice, frozen vegetables and whatever leftover meat I have on hand with a little vinegar and olive oil.
I'll get recipes going now :-).
-Jennifer
Dan and I were talking about what things we thought were most important to have in your kitchen. Here's our first pass at what we would try to have.
-cheap, but decent non-stick skillet
-small sauce pan
-large sauce pan
-soup pot
-cutting board
-decent knives (this is the one place I would spend a little more)
--a paring knife and a big carving knife are sufficient to start out, but you want something that can be sharpened and will keep and edge.
-mixing bowls (make sure there's at least one large one)
-plastic spatula
-plastic mixing spoon
-whisk (if you can find one that won't scratch non-stick, those are great)
-wooden spoon -measuring cups
-measuring spoons
-liquid measuring cup
-garlic press (unless you like the smell of garlic on your hands)
-small strainer/fine mesh sieve
-blender or food processor (both if you have space)
-One of our favorite kitchen pans is cast iron, but it's kind of a pain to season it. If your mom or grandma has one for you, take it! It's like having one of the really great,expensive pans, but you can almost never ruin it. If you forget and leave water in it, you just sand and re-season it. However, it's not necessary in a small kitchen.
Spices- If you have a Penzy's store in Kansas City, their spices are all wonderful and it is my understanding that they are all Gluten free. They end up being pretty close to the same price as grocery store brand, only you use less because they are fresher and more powerful. Don't buy spices at Aldi, as it is one of the things they tell you may be cross-contaminated.
We use these a lot:
-Chili powder
-Cayenne or Ground Red Pepper
-Cumin
-Oregano
-Mexican Oregano
-Basil
-Thyme
-Rosemary
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Vanilla
-Almond Extract
-Salt and Pepper (of course!)
Once you have the basic equipment and spices, the rest is pantry and perishables. In my pantry, I almost always have-
-Cornmeal
-Corn Starch
-Masa (Maseca brand is gluten-free and probably the easiest to find)
-Quinoa (it's a little tougher to find, so let me know if you need some and I'll ship it to you. It cooks as fast as white rice, but has a lot more fiber and protein. It's what I used to make the "tabbouleh" that we had for Heather's shower)
-Brown Rice (I prefer brown basmati, but others really like short grain brown)
-White Rice (sometimes, you just need it done fast or a little stickier than brown rice)
-black beans
-refried beans
-white beans of some sort (great northern or cannellini)
-garbanzo beans
-salsa
-canned tomatoes
-tomato sauce
-red wine vinegar
-white vinegar
-balsamic vinegar
-cider vinegar
-rice vinegar
-olive oil
-canola oil
-canned broth (chicken is easiest and most versatile - really watch labels here, since they seem to randomly add gluten where it's not necessary)
I usually keep a few bags of various frozen vegetables around. One of the easiest meals is rice, frozen vegetables and whatever leftover meat I have on hand with a little vinegar and olive oil.
I'll get recipes going now :-).
-Jennifer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)