Crock-Pot Pork tenderloin with acorn squash and apples

Sometimes I jest that I feel like every night in my kitchen is an episode of "Chopped." I have 30 minutes, a can of tuna, box of quinoa, and an orange. Now go! I actually enjoy those opportunities to be creative with what I have on hand. Although I seem to have to stop at a store nearly every day to pick up something (deodorant for the boy, conditioner for the girl, milk for everyone), I really don't like running out to get a specific item just for dinner. Sometimes that's just not possible: I may really have only 15 minutes between the time I get home and the time I have to leave to take the kids somewhere, and I need to start something that will be edible by the time I get home.

Last night was a Chopped night. I had a pork tenderloin, but I was out of my usual accompaniments: gluten free soy sauce and onions. I took a look around the kitchen and I spotted an acorn squash and a few apples that were a little too mature for lunch boxes, but still perfectly edible. If you don't have an acorn squash, you could substitute any winter squash (butternut, turban, etc.) or even sweet potatoes. And if you don't have fresh apples, I think dried apples would work well with a little extra water.

So, in about 15 minutes, dinner was in the crock pot. I didn't measure things out to create a real recipe. What I have here is more of a general idea. This should probably serve three, if you do not make total pigs of yourselves like my husband and I did.

1 tsp olive oil
1 pork tenderloin
1 acorn squash, washed, seeded, cut into wedges. leave the skin on.
3 tart apples (preferably the firm kind that hold up to cooking, like Jazz). Peeled, cored & sliced.
2 tbsp Craisins
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Cardamom
Dusting of Black Pepper

Set your crock pot to low.
Use a paper towel to rub the olive oil around the inside of the crock pot.
Place the pork tenderloin on the bottom.
Top with the squash, sliced apples and Craisins.
Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and honey.
Add about 1/4 cup water.
Sprinkle cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper on top.
Cook in the Crock on low for about 4-5 hours while you are out running errands and attending PTO meetings.
Return home to find a delicious pork dinner waiting for you.

Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon

Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon

This was the dish that destroyed my gluten-free resolve when I was in Paris. I had been there for about five days when I tried it. I had been dutifully eating salads, skewers of meat and other dishes that had a 98 percent chance of being gluten-free, but the saucy deliciousness of beef bourguignon as I know it in the states is one of my favorites. Since I know enough about cooking to understand that most stews with a thick, gravy-like sauce are made with flour, I really should have stayed away. But I rationalized: at least this iteration was served with steamed potatoes instead of noodles. Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay.

It was delicious. It was one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. I ordered it at the sidewalk café of a restaurant whose name I will never remember, somewhere on a back street a few blocks from the right bank of the Seine, near St. Michel and the Latin Quarter.

Our server brought me my own little copper pot, with its own lid, filled with this insanely delicious stew. The beef came in larger chunks than you would expect to find in a stew, but they were so tender, you could cut them with the side of a spoon.  Two whole, steamed potatoes swam in the broth along with the meat and some sliced carrots, but there were no other discernable vegetables. Even if you could not see the other veggies, you could taste them. They were in there, but the chef had gone to the effort of straining the sauce or possibly pureeing it before replacing the beef and potato in it.

I can’t describe the level of food ecstasy we experienced with this dish. It was everything we strive to avoid in our daily healthy living efforts: fatty, salty, and red-meaty. Not only that, I knew that velvety texture was achieved through wheat gluten. And I ate it anyway. I confess that the luscious sauce was so addictive that I did the unthinkable—the thing I actually have nightmares about—I ate a half a slice of authentic, wheat-laden, wonderful bread in an effort to ingest every particle of sauce that remained in the copper pot.

Did I pay for my transgressions? Of course I did. I will spare you the details.

But fortunately, now that I am home, I have returned to my test kitchen and have been able to produce a delicious facsimile of that utopian meal, with no harmful after-effects.

This dish takes time. Of course it is possible to find short-cut beef bourguignon recipes. But if you’re going to do that, you might as well just buy a Lean Cuisine out of the freezer section. In this case (as in many others) it’s worth it to go big or go home. We can’t reproduce every flavor of this dish in the US, because we don’t have the same French cows raised on the same diet, or even the same tap water, but my home-made rendition was pretty delicious, anyway.

For full flavor, start this dish a day ahead of time. Marinate the meat the full 24 hours in the fridge before cooking. Choose a good-quality, luscious red wine like a pinot noir or Beaujolais. Follow each of the steps, browning the meat separately, straining the vegetables, and sautéing them separately.

Although this is slow food, most of the time is hands-off, so you can be reading, sleeping, working out, learning to dance, or watching Game of Thrones.

Gluten-free Slow-Cooker Beef Bourguignon

Adapted from Joy of Cooking

2-3 lbs boneless chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes

Place the meat in a 13x9 in. Pyrex/glass cake pan deep enough to contain the meat & marinade. Add:

2 cups dry red wine. (I used a California Pinot Noir)

¼ cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped (I used a Vidalia)

1 carrot, chopped

1 garlic clove, pressed or chopped

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

Stir the meat to combine the meat & marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 24, turning the meat and stirring once or twice during the process.

Gluten-free beef bourguignon marinade

About 6 hours before you plan to eat, remove the beef from the marinade (SAVE THE MARINADE AND ALL THE VEGGIES) and place the beef cubes on a stack of paper towels. Turn the meat to pat dry. This will help the meat brown better.

Set a strainer over a bowl, and pour the marinade through the strainer, reserving the vegetables and liquid separately.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook

4 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch slices

Remove and reserve the bacon. Leave the fat in the pan. Over medium heat, brown the beef on all sides, working in batches and being careful not to overcrowd the pan. When the beef is browned, place it in your slow cooker. Once all the beef is browned, sautee the reserved vegetables from the marinade until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables to the slow cooker.

To your reserved liquid marinade, add

½ cup good-quality beef broth

2 tbsp gluten-free corn starch

Whisk quickly to combine. Pour the liquid into the medium-heat pan, and stir until the sauce begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any burned bits. Pour the liquid into the slow cooker. Add:

2 cups small boiling (pearl) onions, if you can find them. I could not, so I used a chopped Vidalia onion.

Cover and set the slow cooker on low if your choices are low/high. Medium if you have that option. Allow to cook for about 5-6 hours, until the meat is fork tender. Add:

2 cups sliced button mushrooms

Cover and continue to cook for another 20 minutes, while you prepare mashed potatoes to catch all the delicious sauce. When ready to serve, add ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley and salt and black pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato Fries

A lot of excellent Lindy-friendly songs talk about food. Maybe this is why I like jazz so much—because I love food as much as I love to dance. The songs get stuck in my head, and then I have to go home and make the food. This week’s food song is “Sweet Potato Fries,” By Gordon Webster, off of their Live in Rochester CD.

Sweet Potato Fries
with Montreal Steak seasoning
and ketchup

We saw Gordon Webster perform at the International Lindy HopChampionships last year, and bought three of his CDs. I love almost every song on these CDs. There is so much excellent instrumentation, and they all just seem to beg for improv while dancing.

I have included the “Sweet Potato Fries” lyrics below, and you can give the band a listen here. After listening to this song, you may want to make your own sweet potato fries, which is an excellent idea, because they are very healthy if you make them yourself. Not so much if you buy them in a restaurant, deep fried and smothered in fat, and not as tasty if you buy the big frozen bag at the store.

Tips for making sweet potato fries:

Use one sweet potato per person. Scrub and peel the outside of the potato. Cut the potato in fry-sized strips. (Sweet potatoes are very hard, so use a large, heavy, sharp knife) Place the cut potatoes in a mixing bowl and drizzle olive oil or melted coconut oil over them. Add one of the following seasoning combinations (or improvise your own):

• Salt and pepper
• McCormick’s Montreal steak seasoning
• Crushed rosemary, salt & pepper
• Crushed mint and salt
• Cinnamon and pepper

Stir to combine. Pour the seasoned spuds in a shallow baking pan (like a jelly roll pan) and arrange so they are in  one flat layer. Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the taters are brown and crispy.

Serve hot, with ketchup.

Sweet Potato Fries

By Gordon Webster

Live in Rochester

When men come and dine, they get to feelin’ full just fine

The dining’s in the timing with my sweet potato fries

When men try my spuds, they claim the other gals are duds

Does wonders for the hunger, o my sweet potato fries

When they come and meet, looking for a treat, they get taters

You can take a seat, then you’re bound to eat

A dish that’s just delish if it’s for now or for later

Take your appetite, down to the table, grab a bite

You’ll never have no better than my sweet potato fries

Well, I ain’t got much to show, but I can peel ‘em fast or slow

My sweetie loves to eatie all my sweet potato fries

Don’t got time, don’t got money, but I got a dish to try

Cause I’m a yammy mammy with my sweet potato fries

I can hardly wait, looking for a date with my honey

He knows where to look, when he needs a cook

I’ll fix him up a dish and never charge him no money

Dinner is served tonight, come get your fill and feel just right

You’ll never have no better than my sweet potato fries

Get the salt, pepper too

That’s all the flavor that I’ll add for you

You’ll never have no better than my sweet potato fries

5 Swingin' Ways to Eat Spinach, in honor of Julia Lee

In 1949, Julia Lee did a song with her band, the Boyfriends, called "The Spinach Song," or "I didn't like it the first time." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax4tVzuN52U)

Not only is this song fun to dance to, but it is a cunning extended metaphor for either marijuana or sex, depending on how you interpret the lyrics:

Spinach has vitamin A, B and D, but spinach never appealed to me

But one day while having dinner with a guy, I decided to give it a try

I didn’t like it the first time, it was so new to me

I didn’t like it the first time, I was so young, you see


I used to run away from the stuff, but now somehow I can’t get enough


I didn’t like it the first time, oh, how it grew on me!

I didn’t like it the first time, I had it on a date 


Although the first was the worst time, right now I think it’s great


Somehow, it’s always hittin’ the spot, especially when they bring it in hot


I didn’t like it the first time, but oh, how it grew on me 

I didn't like it the first time, I thought it was so strange

I wasn't getting much younger, so I just made the change

No longer is the stuff on the shelf, ‘cause now I make a pig of myself

I didn't like it the first time, but oh how it grew on me 

I didn't like it the first time, when I was just sixteen

I didn't like it the first time, guess I was mighty green

But I stocked up, cause I've gotten wise, I've got enough for two dozen guys

I didn't like it the first time, but oh how it grew on me

I didn't like it the first time, but oh how it grew on me!

In honor of the clever Miss Lee, I have put together a few of my favorite ways to eat actual, garden-variety spinach. I hope you will enjoy them while dancing to this song in your kitchen.

• Spinach salad: Best with baby spinach leaves slightly chopped up. I like mine with some kind of fruit, like dried cranberries and/or sectioned oranges and pecans.
• Wilted, with bacon: Don’t tell my fitness friends about this one, but when I am feeling rather naughty, I chop up a few slices of real, authentic pig bacon, cook it until crispy, then dump an entire bag of spinach into the skillet right on top of all that bacon fat. I wilt the leaves, tossing them carelessly around in the pan for about a minute, then add a half-teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a sprinkling of black pepper.
• Wilted, healthier-style: This is the recipe I do tell my fitness friends about. In a nonstick skillet, I heat up about a tablespoon of low-sodium, gluten-free tamari mixed with about ¼ cup of water. Then, over medium heat, I stir-boil one clove of crushed garlic, and then add a bag of spinach and a dusting of red pepper flakes, stirring until wilted, about one minute.
• Spinach omelet: First, I chop up about a half an onion and sautee that in a nonstick skillet until it is translucent. Then I add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes and a handful of chopped fresh spinach, stir long enough to wilt, and then pour in two scrambled eggs (or egg whites if you are being very virtuous). After a minute or two, I stir the eggs to break up the curds and add about a tablespoon of crumbled feta cheese, then allow the omelet to finish cooking.
• Spinach in tacos. I wouldn’t really want an all-spinach taco/burrito, but we do use spinach instead of lettuce sometimes. It adds that extra boost of dark green leafies.

You can sautee a little spinach right along with your eggs for breakfast.

Winter’s day chili

It is a snow day for us today, which means the kids haven’t changed out of pajamas for two days and we are all stuck around the house because the roads are slushy and icy.

Ground-chicken chili topped with
greek yogurt and cheddar cheese

When this kind of weather rolls around, it is chili, soup and stew time. Today, I’m making chili and I am sharing one rendition of our chili recipe here. One great thing about this dish is that the only actual requirement of chili is that it contain chili powder. Anything else is optional. It can be made with chicken, beef, vegetables, beans, pork—although there are always purists who will argue that their concoction is the only thing that really deserves to be called chili. For me, it’s all about not having to go to the grocery store on an ugly day, so I like to make do with whatever I have on hand.

In general, we serve this chili with cornbread. I like mine with a bit of shredded sharp cheddar cheese and perhaps a few dices of raw onion on top. Some folks enjoy their chili over rice and others, who I will never understand, put it on top of spaghetti noodles. It’s also very nice atop white or (especially) sweet potatoes. Unconventional, yes, but the combination of sweet and spicy is delicious.

Recipe

1 lb ground chicken (or leftover cut-up chicken, or ground beef)

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper (or green or yellow)

Brown the meat, onion and pepper in a large soup pot over medium-high heat until the meat is cooked though and the onions begin to soften. If you are using ground meat, break up the meat chunks as you stir.

Add to the meat/onion/pepper mixture in the soup pot:

1 clove fresh garlic, minced, or ¼ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp Chili powder

¼ tsp dried ground Chipotle Chili Pepper

¼ tsp black pepper
28 oz can crushed tomatoes

Stir until combined. Add one 28-oz can crushed tomatoes and one 28-oz can full of water to the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low, or pour the chili into a slow cooker on low.

If you are cooking on the stovetop, allow the chili to simmer for about 30 minutes. If in the slow cooker, you can let it simmer on low for 4-5 hours (or longer).

Luscious GF Quiche

Spinach, red pepper, onion and feta quiche

This is a luscious, crumbly-crust, whole-egg, cheesy and satisfying quiche that works great with a wide variety of fillings, is very forgiving of mistreatment, and can be cooked ahead of time. It's a nice dish to take for a lunch, brunch, breakfast or tea. It holds up relatively well, but the exposed parts of the crust will shatter easily, so pack it protectively in a pie box if you are taking it somewhere.

I strongly recommend using the food processor for this crust, but you can also use a pastry blender to cut in the fat.

For the crust
You can use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pie crust mix OR, you can make your own pie crust with the following recipe (makes two pie crusts. If you are only making one quiche, halve the recipe).

2 1/2 cups white rice flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
15 tablespoons cold butter (that's two sticks minus one tablespoon). Cut each stick of butter into about 16 cubes

6 tablespoons ice water

In the bowl of a food processor with the cutting blade at the bottom, combine the rice flour, salt and butter cubes. Pulse about 10-15 times until the mixture takes on the texture of small pebbles or coarse sand.

Pour 6 tablespoons of ice water into the food processor bowl, one tablespoon at a time.

Pulse the mixture until it comes together in a ball.

Turn out the ball of dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper. Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for half an hour.

Divide the dough into two equal parts. Shape each into a disk about five inches in diameter. Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll it out until it's about 10 inches in diameter, or large enough to cover your pie plate.

Peel off one sheet of plastic wrap, and place the dough exposed-side down in a pie plate. Remove the other sheet of plastic wrap and fit the crust into the pan. Flute the edges with your fingers. Prick the bottom of the crust about 15 times with a fork, and precook the crust in a 425F oven for about 15 minutes. (Note: I would ordinarily line the pie shells with tin foil and fill with pie weights or beans when I pre bake, but the foil tends to stick to a GF crust. If you do line the crust with foil, be sure to grease it first)

For the quiche
You can fill a quiche with just about anything, but below are a few suggestions. If you are using fresh vegetables, be sure to cook them first or they will shed their water into the egg mixture, preventing it from setting properly.

Lay the filling in the bottom of the crust, then pour the egg mixture on top.

• Spinach, red pepper, onion and feta cheese: Sautee one small diced onion and a small diced red pepper until the onions turn translucent. Add about 1 cup fresh chopped spinach and cook until the spinach wilts. Pour the vegetables into the bottom of the crust. Add about 1/8-1/4 cup feta cheese.



Ham & Cheese Quiche

• Ham and cheddar: dice about 1/3 cup ham and place in the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle on about 1/8-1/4 cup cheddar.

For the egg filling:

In a large bowl, whisk together 4 eggs, 2 cups of milk (or half and half, or cream) and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the filling in the pie crust.

Bake

Pop the quiche into a 350F oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic (No knife required)

This evening, I injured myself while attempting to cut up a small chicken. I was working on a how-to video, and then my husband came in, not realizing that I had the camera on. I was giving him the “quiet, please,” face, instead of watching what I was doing. The knife slipped…and there you go. And now I have the whole thing on video. Fabulous.

Roasted Brussels sprouts

Inspired by my mishap, I decided to share an extremely easy and knife-free recipe that uses only 5 ingredients (plus one optional), and is quite healthy.

Two out of three of my kids even like these. That’s about as good as we ever do in our house, since the youngest is the pickiest person I've ever known.

These sprouts are very forgiving. I have put them in the oven right before going out for a run, and returned later than I expected to find them darker than I anticipated, but just as delicious. They pair well with anything robust or tomatoey. However, in our house, we normally eat them right off the roasting pan as soon as they are cool enough to touch. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

1 lb. Brussels sprouts

(I like the pre-washed bag, but the long stalks with the sprouts still attached also look very cool).

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Dried flaked red pepper

Optional: 4-5 whole cloves of garlic with the papery peel still on

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F

Set out a broiler pan, roasting pan, or other large, shallow pan.

Place the sprouts in a mixing bowl. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over the sprouts. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper (probably about ¼ tsp each, depending on your tastes). Add the dried red pepper flakes to taste. I like my sprouts spicy, so I use about ¼ tsp.

If desired, add the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves. Swirl the bowl around so that the sprouts roll about in the oil and seasonings. Pour the sprouts onto the baking sheet. Roast them in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes, until the outer leaves turn very dark and are nearly black. They might look close to burned, but the olive oil should keep them from drying out.

When the sprouts are done, remove them from the oven. Pull out the garlic cloves, and squeeze the gooey roasted garlic out of the papery skin and onto a small cutting board. Roughly chop/mash the garlic goo, then return it to the pan with the sprouts, stirring the two together before placing them in a nice serving dish and taking them to the table. (Or eating all the sprouts right off the pan like vegetable addicts)

Note:

This is not a good dish to make the first time you have a new guy/girl over for dinner. The sprouts will make your house smell like farts for the first 20 minutes they are roasting. I know that’s not very ladylike, but I thought you should know.