Spaghetti Bolognese

When I was planning this week's meals, the one request that my dad made was pasta. I then typed in pasta in a Food Network search, and found this recipe. I had never made a ragu sauce before, so I was willing to try it. I did, however, make a few modifications to Anne Burrell's original recipe. Anne has the pasta mix in with the sauce and a bit of the pasta water, but since I was making two different pastas (gluten free and non-gluten free), I couldn't go that far and decided to simply serve the ragu separately as a sauce. The recipe also called for ground beef, but I find ground beef to be way too greasy, so I used ground turkey, which is leaner.

 

 

I found that the Vitamix works wonderful for pureeing vegetables and makes for a lot less mess to clean up. The puree bubbled almost as soon as I added it, and got the sauce off to a great start.



 

After about fifteen minutes, the water had evaporated from the puree, making it look more like a paste that I could easily push aside to make room for the turkey.

 

The turkey was easy to brown, and at first the puree remained the paste it was when I first added the meat. However, it soon blended in with the turkey fat, accounting for the slightly orange color you see.



 

The tomato paste went in after the turkey had cooked for about 20 minutes. I let the mixture cook for about 5 minutes.

 

Next, I added three cups of red wine. I have been told that you should cook with wine that you would drink, but as I am only eighteen I leave that business to my mom. I let the wine reduce by about half.

 

 

I added a bunch of thyme from my garden along with two bay leaves. Then I poured water to about one inch. Here I let the sauce begin simmering for 3 1/2 hours. As the sauce simmered, the liquid gradually began to reduce, so I kept adding water two cups at a time, letting it reduce, and then adding more water.

 

Here the sauce is halfway done simmering. You can see the water at the top that has been reducing.

When the sauce had about half and hour to go, I began cooking the pasta. I let the sauce simmer a little longer than 3 1/2 hours in order to allow the water to reduce more.

 

After the wheat pasta finished, I set the table. I always make the gluten-free pasta first so that the pot doesn't get contaminated by the wheat pasta. The wheat pasta is on the left and the gluten-free pasta is on the right. I actually was able to make the gluten-free pasta just right and not sticky like it normally gets. The sauce was great, and the pasta was so filling that I could only eat one helping. I guess I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

Veggie Chili Over Sweet Potatoes

Well hello... it's been what six months since I last posted. Phew with all the college visits, AP coursework and GRADUATION (Woot! Woot!) it sure has been a hectic few months. But as of a week and a half ago I am officially graduated from high school and now I can't wait until September when I'll be headed to Oakland University to study Spanish and Psychology! And did I also mention that I got a job? I'm working as a lifeguard at a local swim club and it is turning out to be a blast. As it turns out one of the perks to being a lifeguard is that when club members have a party at the swim club and they end up with a lot of extra food that they don't want, guess who ends up with it? The lifeguards. This is how I ended up taking home what was left of a veggie tray (also because none of the other lifeguards wanted it) and today I made some white bean hummus to dip the veggies in as part of my lunch.

The real star of the show, however, is the veggie chili that I made and served over  mashed sweet potatoes. Back in February I attended a scholarship competition at Albion College, and the night
before the competition there was a special dinner for the competitors and their families, and they had a mashed potato bar. I wasn't able to eat the mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes) because they had butter, but they had a vegetarian chili and sautéed vegetables, and that was what I had. After the competition, I ended up staying overnight with a student host and attending a preview event the next day, and one of the things that I was particularly impressed with about Albion was their food. They actually put out signs that state whether or not the food is made without any particular allergens, what exactly is in the food, and whether or not it is prepared with any allergens. I really hope that other colleges consider this model because of the increased amount of students with food allergies. I remember the two summers that I went to a debate camp at Michigan State and how difficult it was to find food that I could eat (most days I was living off the salad bar and Jell-O). I did notice that MSU started to phase in some labeling of dishes as gluten-free or containing dairy during the second time I was there, but I still believe that colleges need to do more to ensure that students' dietary needs are met.

With that said, I want to introduce my spinoff on the mashed potato bar at Albion. This afternoon I peeled and then boiled some sweet potatoes. I used a potato masher to mash them and thinned them out with some almond milk, and that's all I added to them. Later I did a Google search for vegetarian chili, and a recipe from Whole Foods popped up. I made this recipe with a few small changes. I didn't have an onion, so I used extra celery and a scallion. I didn't have a red bell pepper and only half of a green bell pepper so I used the green bell pepper and also used and orange and yellow bell pepper. I didn't have any chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (not to mention the most adobe sauces contain wheat) so I used a dash of chipotle powder that my mom got at Penzey's Spices. I also only had cumin seeds so I used a coffee grinder to grind the seeds myself. Other than that I followed the recipe to the letter. I put a scoop of  mashed sweet potatoes in the bottom of my bowl and then topped it with the veggie chili.

Gluten- Free 101

Today one of my friends mentioned that she is going on a gluten- free diet, and was wondering what kind of foods were both gluten and dairy free (she is also lactose intolerant). So I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about the diet itself. I guess it would be a good idea to start by demolishing a few myths about the diet.

Myth #1: "Wheat- Free" means "Gluten Free"
Truth: Even if a product is wheat- free, it could still contain rye, barley, or other grains that are not gluten- free. You need to check the label to make sure that it doesn't contain any of these grains.

Myth #2: Saying no to gluten means saying no to grains.
Truth: There are actually several grains such as rice and tapioca that are gluten- free. The key is to make sure that you only eat these grains, not the ones that contain gluten.

Now that we've taken care of that, we can really dive into what it means to be gluten- free.The good news is that there are so many more resources now than there used to be. Back when I first went on the diet, there was very little awareness about gluten- free dieting, and my mom had to get the necessary supplies via mail- order and make everything from scratch. Now there are all sorts of recipes and gluten- free products available. However, I still have had to give up a lot of things. When on a gluten- free diet, it is very hard to eat out very often. Although restaurants have been attempting to offer gluten- free options, cross contamination is very likely, and it is not guaranteed that the food will be completely gluten- free. As a result, the best option is to simply cook your own food and eat at home. I hope that I have been providing some good recipes that can be used.

So when it comes to cooking gluten- free, it is very important to make sure that there is no cross- contamination. It is a good idea to designate certain utensils as being used for gluten- free cooking only. In my house, we use a double toaster. One side is designated as gluten- free only. It is important to take these steps since even a small amount of gluten can cause problems in some people.

The other important thing is to ALWAYS read labels. You should never assume that something is gluten- free. So when you are buying ingredients for use in recipes, it is important to make sure that the ingredient is gluten free. Otherwise that ingredient could cause some problems.

Here is a list of some foods that are gluten free:
Rice (white or brown)
Fresh fruits and Vegetables (I eat these a lot)
Corn
Tapioca
Eggs

These are some foods that are sometimes gluten- free. I have listed brands that are gluten- free.
Lunchmeat- You will need to check the label very carefully. If you are also allergic to milk, you should only get the kind that is already packaged (Since the slicers are also used for cheese).
Ketchup and Mustard (Heinz is gluten free)
Fried foods- You need to be very careful with these. Some foods can be coated with flour and oil can be contaminated. Your best bet is to make these yourself.
Hamburger and hot dogs- Ball park hot dogs are gluten free. Hamburgers can sometimes contain bread crumbs and other fillers that are not gluten free. Your best option is to buy the meat and make the hamburgers yourself.
Mayo- Not all kinds of mayonnaise are gluten- free. You should check the label. This is also true for products that contain mayo, such as potato salad.
Broth- Boullion cubes usually contain wheat, so I don't reccomend using them. Pacific Natural Foods makes gluten- free broths

Foods that are NOT gluten- free
Bread and other baked goods (unless specifically listed as gluten- free)
croutons
colas
beer  (for those of you over 21)
pasta (unless specifically listed as gluten- free)
MOST cereals (for a list of gluten- free cereals, check my resources)

This should start you out pretty well. If you have any additional questions about going gluten-free I recommend Living Without magazine, which contains tips for living with food allergies. Gluten- Free Living for Dummies is also a good book for people who are going gluten- free. I also have several other recipe books that I can recommend if you need additional resources.

Spice Rubbed Pork with Quinoa

Since this is my first time posting in awhile I'll just say that junior year has started and that means a lot has been going on. We're finally on Midwinter Break which means that I finally get a chance to cook my favorite recipes.

So this is a recipe that I found in the April 2011 issue of Food Network magazine. It turned out really well and the quinoa went really well with the pork. I would also recommend serving it with salsa verde as it really went well with the spices in the pork.

Here's the link to the recipe:
 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/spice-rubbed-pork-with-quinoa-recipe/index.html

Family BBQ

Often on summer nights we will fire up the grill and have a little family BBQ. My dad grilled up some ribs tonight, and I have to say that they were really good. We had peas and potato chips on the side. I'm hoping that maybe next time I can make some potato salad. The latest issue of Food Network Magazine came the other day, and it has 50 different recipes for potato salad. I hope to try it out soon.

This was actually the first time we had a real BBQ. Normally when we grill we usually have hamburgers or hot dogs. Sometimes we also grill chicken or steaks. We usually don't grill ribs. However, I will say that if you want to have a good BBQ, you have to have a good BBQ sauce. Unfortunately most BBQ sauces contain wheat or something else that I can't have. So I decided to make my own. It actually turned out pretty good.

Ellen's Sweet BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
dash A1 Steak Sauce

Directions:
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Serve.

To be honest, this is something that I sort of just threw together. I used dark brown sugar because that was what we had. You can use light brown sugar if you want. I'm not sure it will make a big difference.

I hope that we get to have more BBQs later this summer. I'm planning an Asian BBQ for Friday. It's going to be a blast.

End of the Year

Hey guys,

Yes I know it's been awhile since I last posted. That's because I've been very busy with school lately. 3 honors courses and after-school activities have taken up a lot of my time, so I haven't really been able to do a whole lot of cooking. However, the school year is almost over. The last day is on Friday, and I hope that I'll be able to start posting my favorite recipes again.

So with that said, I have some things to share. First of all, I am now on Twitter, so feel free to tweet me with suggestions for new recipes or any questions related to this blog. Second,  I have managed to track down some new recipes that I hope to share with you.

By the way, remember that Super Bowl Party that I did for my final exam in my foods class. Well here's the video of the pictures.

Well that's all for now. Hope I can share some recipes with you soon.

Recipes from Super Bowl Party

Sorry it has taken me so long to do this, but I have been pretty busy with schoolwork. That said, here are the other recipes from the Super Bowl Party.

Chicken Wings
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/alton-browns-buffalo-wings-recipe/index.html

Twice Baked Potatoes
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cheddar-Twice-Baked-Potatoes

Note: I made a slight modification. Instead of mixing the cheese in with the filling, I topped the potatoes with cheese for my family and simply left it off of my potato.

And for an added bonus, I have a video of all the photos from the party.