Making Gluten Free Cookies With Vicky!!!

I feel like every time I leave Phoenix I always go to Miami, like whenever I head to the airport, I'm on my way to see my family in Miami.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I decided to switch things up a little, since there ARE other people that I love and care about that I don't get to see often enough.

So a couple days ago, I packed my bags and got on Southwest Flight 797 bound for Indianapolis.  That's right, Indianapolis!  You see, there are 4 very special ladies that used to live in Phoenix that now live in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Champaign, and Chicago, and I decided to come visit all of them!

First stop was strolling all over downtown Indianapolis with Jennifer!!!  The whole town is totally geared up for the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat.  We stopped by the Fieldhouse and got our tickets for Game 4 on Tuesday night, SO EXCITED!!!!!  At the Farmer's Market, almost all the booths had Beat the Heat posters, and Pacers legend Rik Smits was at a table signing posters  :-)

 

Actually, we didn't know who he was at first, but since he signed it with #45, we easily figured out who he was by googling "Pacers legends #45".   It would be like seeing Tom Chambers in downtown Phoenix.  Any of us long-time Suns fans would be like "Hi, Tom!", while anyone else might just be thinking, "That guy's really tall."

Next stop was a short 1-hour drive to Bloomington, home to Indiana University and former VOTS players Vicky and Shawn, and their family.  Bloomington is really tiny so there's not much to say except they have a grocery store and a few bars where they serve alcoholic beverages.

When I fly, I usually check out the in-flight magazine to pass the boring hours in the air, some light reading and maybe a crossword puzzle or Sudoku.  In this month's Southwest Spirit magazine I found a recipe for Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread cookies that looked completely buttery and yummy!  So I stashed the magazine in my bag for possible future baking adventures.  When Vicky mentioned that she had to make some cookies, I remembered my magazine!

CRANBERRY PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD

1/2 cup pistachios
2 sticks unsalted (or salted) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 blood orange (zest and juice) (I used a naval orange)
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (see gluten-free alternative below)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped

1.  Toast pistachios in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes (I used a pan on top of the stove instead).  Cool, chop, and set aside.  Beat butter, sugar, and zest on high speed until fluffy.  Mix in juice.  Beat in flour and salt on low speed until dough forms.  Fold in cranberries and pistachios.

2.  In wax paper (I used plastic wrap), roll dough into a 2-inch thick log.  Freeze for 30 minutes.  (my dough was super soft, so it didn't hold a round log shape at first.  So every 10 minutes or so, I took it out of the freezer and rolled my log into a more rounder shape.)

3.  Roll log in granulated sugar (oops, I forgot this step).  Slice into 1/2 inch pieces.  Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees until sides are lightly brown (12 to 18 minutes), rotating pan once.  Keep cookies on tray for 10 minutes, then place on cooling rack.

Wow, these cookies are way delicious, buttery and orangey and addicting!!!  For the flour, we used a gluten-free alternative mixture of rice flour, tapioca flour, and potato starch.  Here is the recipe:

GLUTEN-FREE ALL PURPOSE FLOUR:

1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch

Mix these together in a bowl.  Since I needed 2 and 1/4 cups of flour, I mixed 2 cups of rice flour, and 1 cup each of the other two ingredients.  There's some left over for another gluten-free baking session.

Vicky also added 1 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum to the dough, which is "a polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris," according to Wikipedia.  Vicky explained that since this flour substitute has no gluten, it won't behave the same in your recipe, so the xanthan gum acts like a substitute for the gluten.

* * * * * * *

So what's next???  I'll be heading up to Chicago in a couple days to partake in a Craft Beer Festival with the lovely Kaetlynn!  Maybe I'll pick up Betsy on the way!  Then, it's back to Indianapolis for the aforementioned Game 4 on Tuesday with Jennifer, Vicky, Shawn, and a few other people.  That's going to be amazing!!!!  You may be wondering where my loyalties lie, well I'll just have to deal with that internally while surrounded on all sides with screaming fans dressed in yellow.....  :-)

Life IS beautiful, after all.  And so is basketball and food.

A Perfect Night

Last night was a perfect night!  I had a date to the Suns v. Houston Rockets game, so we met at Wong's Place for some Deep Fried Tofu ("little pillows of happiness") and Crystal Shrimp with Walnuts ("creamy nuggets of pure joy") before the game.  Wong's Place never disappoints, it was amazing!!!!!  And then the Suns won!!!!  107-105, it was very exciting!  After the game, we stopped by Boulders on Broadway to have some beer.  I tried a Cascara Quad which I never heard of before, and it was pretty good.  The bartender described it as "figs and coffee cherries".  I'm not sure I actually tasted those flavors (or even what a coffee cherry is), but it was tasty.  I decided to move on to water, but later on, shortly before last call, we decided to try the Smoked & Oaked Belgium Style Ale.  The big bottle was just enough for each of us to have a full glass of Smoked & Oaked.  This beer was DELICIOUS!!!  And at 10.4% alcohol.....  I didn't realize beforehand the effect that one little glass was going to have on my brain!  I was in no condition to drive home!  Luckily, my date, who is much bigger and stronger than me, was ok to drive, and he even knew how to drive a stick shift, so he got me home safe.  That's what I call a perfect night!!!

Beer and A Really Good Steak

There is no substitute for a really good steak.  I cook steak, but I'm not even going to pretend that it's one of my specialties.  Cooking a great steak is a true art, and experts spend years perfecting their craft.  Thankfully there are many steakhouses out there where you can enjoy the steak of your dreams.

I recently had a really good steak in Palm Springs at the Renaissance Hotel there.  On the menu, it's called "Steak Salad", and it's a grilled sirloin steak with an old-fashioned lettuce salad and onion rings.  I have to say it took quite a while for me to get my steak, but when it finally arrived, it was delicious.  I had suspected my order didn't go into the kitchen right away, because when I asked about it, it seemed like the staff started scrambling a little.  Let's just say that when I finally got my steak, it was freshly cooked.  You know, you can't fake steak.  I can't exactly say it was worth the wait because there really was someplace else that I wanted to be while I was waiting for it, but it was still a really good steak and I enjoyed it.

I also love beer.  I love going to a bar where they have hundreds of different beers, both on tap and in bottles.  The best place around here is called Boulders on Broadway.  They have dozens of beers on tap, that they change up every week, plus several more dozens of bottled beers.  Every time I go, I try something new that I never heard of before!  It's usually pretty good!  Top's Liquor and Sprouts (f.k.a. Sunflower Market) also have an awesome variety of bottled beers to choose from.

Last fall, my friend Katherine told me about a pumpkin ale that tastes just like pumpkin pie.  I still haven't found it, but I just know it's going to be awesome when I do!  I bought some Pumpkin Ale last week by Buffalo Bills Brewery, and let me tell you, it doesn't taste anything like pumpkin pie!  I was so disappointed!  One of these days I will find that beer that tastes like pumpkin pie, and I'll be drinking it with a big smile on my face!

It's always a good day for a steak and a beer, my friend!

Yummy Easy Chili!

Ranch beans are the best!  It's the best side dish ever next to a steak and even delicious on their own.  If you are not familiar with Ranch Style Beans, they are pinto beans (a Southwestern staple) in a yummy chili gravy.  The thick sauce the beans are soaking in is made out of tomatoes, chilies, and spices, so it's not really a stretch to imagine you can make a nice chunky chili out of a can of ranch beans.

In the past, I have used ground meat to make ranch bean chili, but this week I happened to have 1/2 pound of breakfast sausage in my refrigerator.  And a can of ranch beans with jalapeno in my pantry.  I also had a green pepper, an onion, and some tomatoes on hand, so it was a no-brainer.

EASY RANCH BEAN CHILI:

1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 lb. sausage or ground meat
1 can Ranch Style Beans with Jalapeno (or without jalapeno if you can't take the heat)
Seasonings: salt, pepper, granulated garlic, red chili powder, chile with lime (chile con limon), cumin, etc.

Roughly chop the peppers, onions, and tomatoes.  Saute the peppers and onions in a little oil, seasoning the veggies with your faves.  I recommend the above.  Go light on the granulated garlic and cumin.  I get Chile Con Limon at Food City, it's basically red chili powder with lemon added, perfect on everything!

When the peppers and onions are about 1/2 way cooked, add the meat and continue to saute it, cooking the meat thoroughly.  Add the tomatoes last, after the meat is cooked.  Now add the ranch beans and enough water to reach the top of the ingredients.  Stir and let this mixture simmer for 20-30 minutes (stirring occasionally) so the ingredients can become one.  Chefs like to say "Let the flavors get married!"  That's a good way to put it!  They are no longer pepper, onion, meat, and beans; they have become the delicious little family of Yummy Chunky Chili!  Now go enjoy your creation!

Fresh Fruit Tarts!!!

I learned to make these when I worked as a pastry baker at the Pointe Resort on South Mountain.  We used to make fancy pastries for weddings, parties, conferences, whatever events people were having at the resort.  Fruit tarts would appear on trays with an assortment of pastries such as chocolate eclairs, cream puffs, brownies, napoleons, chocolate mousse cups, petit fours, etc.  Fresh fruit tarts were always my favorite because they're so pretty!  And they have fresh fruit!  They are not hard to make, but they do have quite a few steps.  After you read the recipe, you might just be calling me to say, "Hey Sarah, can you just make me one?"  :-)

Since this recipe comes from a resort/hotel bake shop, the original recipe calls for 8 lbs. of sugar, 13 lbs. of butter, 12 lbs. of flour, 2 gallons of milk, and 1 and 1/4 lb. of cornstarch (20 oz.).  I have broken it down to a more manageable portion size, that you can handle in a home kitchen.  Thankfully the internet has conversion charts where I could convert the lbs. to cups.

There are basically 2 recipes involved in making fruit tarts: the tart shell, which is like a shortbread cookie, and the cream filling, which is the same cream filling that you would put in a chocolate eclair or a cream puff.  Once you have those 2 recipes prepared, you just have to assemble the fruit tarts; the subsequent steps involve melting the chocolate, slicing the fruit, melting the jelly and toasting the almonds.

TART SHELLS (SUGAR DOUGH):

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
2 sticks plus 2 Tbsp. butter
1 egg
4 and 3/4 cup cake flour

Cream together the sugar and butter in a mixer.  Add the egg to the sugar and butter.  Then add the flour until it's incorporated.  Don't overmix the dough.  For best results, you should refrigerate the dough for about an hour so you can roll it out.  If you have to use it right away, it will be very soft, so you'll have to squish it down into the pans, it will be too soft to roll.

Prepare your pans: With this recipe, I made two 9-inch tarts, and three 4-inch tarts.  You can get fancy tart pans at places like Williams-Sonoma in the mall, or you can use regular cake pans, chicken pot pie pans, or even muffin tins.  I used 9-inch cake pans and 4-inch chicken pot pie pans.  Grease or spray your pans.  If you are using a cake pan, you can cut a circle of parchment or aluminum foil to go into the bottom of the pan, to make sure you can get the tart shell out of the pan.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 sections, and roll the dough out with a little flour.   Transfer the dough to the pan.  If you are using a cake pan, trim the dough so it only goes 1/2 inch up the sides.  Same for the smaller pans (an actual tart pan will have shorter sides that are only about 1/2 inch high).  Poke holes all over the bottom of the raw dough and bake them in a 350 degree oven until they start to turn golden.  Let the tart shells cool before filling them.

PASTRY CREAM (CREME ANGLAIS):

3 and 1/2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup milk
2 sticks of butter

Mix together the 3 and 1/2 cups milk with the sugar and egg yolks.  Bring these to a boil and remove from heat.  Mix together the cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk, and add to the boiled mixture, stirring it with a wire whip (wire whisk).  It will get really thick.  Add the butter to the thickened mixture and continue stirring with the wire whip so the butter melts into the milk mixture.  Now you have pastry cream.  You'll need to cool the pastry cream before using it - put plastic wrap directly onto the pastry cream to avoid a skin forming on the top.

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS:

Fresh fruit -  strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, kiwi, mango

12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Clear jelly - if you can't find clear apricot, look for clear apple jelly

Small (2 oz.) bag of sliced almonds 

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler.  If you don't have an actual double boiler, you can use a pan and a bowl.  The bowl has to be bigger than the pan.  Put about an inch of water in the pan, and place the bowl on top.  The water should not touch the bowl.  Put the chocolate chips in the bowl, and place the pan over medium heat.  Stir the chocolate chips a couple times with a rubber spatula while they're melting.  It will melt really fast.  Make sure you don't get any water in the chocolate, or else it will get lumpy.

Coat the bottoms and sides of the tart shells with the melted chocolate.  Don't be timid!  Brush on a nice thick layer of chocolate.  I use a pastry brush that I got from Ace Hardware for 79 cents.  Don't worry, I never painted with it!  The chocolate layer serves 2 purposes.  It tastes really yummy, and it also protects the tart shells from getting soggy once you fill them with cream and fruit.  Chill the tart shells so the chocolate hardens before you add the rest of the ingredients.

While the chocolate is cooling, slice the fruit really pretty.  I just love all the beautiful colors!

When the chocolate is fully cooled, it's time to fill the tart shells with pastry cream up to the top.  If you don't have a pastry bag, you can use a ziplock  bag with a 1/2 inch hole cut in the corner to squeeze the cream out of.  This will make it easy to squeeze out a nice layer of pastry cream.  Use an offset spatula to smooth the pastry cream into an even layer that is even with the sides of the tart shell.

 

Now it's time for artistry!  Arrange the sliced fruit on top of the pastry cream.  If you're doing a circular design, start at the outer edge and work your way towards the middle.  Be creative and use all your colors!  So pretty!

Next, melt the jelly so you can brush it over the fruit to make it shiny and hold everything together.  You can use a small pan or the microwave to melt it.  Make sure you also brush some jelly over the edges of the tart shell so the almonds stick to it.

Finally, you have reached the last step in your fresh fruit tart-making journey!  Toast the sliced almonds by putting them in a dry frying pan and heat them slowly on the stove.  Stir them or flip them in the pan so they get mixed up.  Watch these closely because once they start to turn golden, they will quickly burn.  As soon as they start to get some color to them, they are ready.  If you let them get brown, they are burned.  Transfer the almonds to a cutting board and chop them coursely.  Scoop the almonds into your hand and decorate the edges of the tart shell with the toasted almonds.  Wow!!!  Enjoy your fresh fruit tarts, they are beautiful AND delicious!!!

Sweet Potato Pancakes!

I usually make potato pancakes, but last week, I only had sweet potatoes, so I decided to try something new, sweet potato pancakes!  I'm happy to report, they turned out really sweet and yummy!  I made them the same way I make regular potato pancakes, just left out the onions and added brown sugar.  Mmmm!

SWEET POTATO PANCAKES:

1 small sweet potato - shredded
1 egg
1 tablespoon brown sugar
apx 1 tablespoon corn starch (maybe a little less)
1 sprinkle of salt
(oil for frying)

Shred the sweet potatoes into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, except for the oil.  Put enough oil in a non-stick frying pan to cover the bottom of the pan and heat it over medium-low heat.  Then spoon the sweet potato mixture into the oil and flatten it out into 4-inch rounds.  You should have enough for about 4-5 sweet potato pancakes.  Fry on each side until it starts to turn brown.  They'll be nice and crispy and SWEET!!!

These are the perfect side dish for anything!!!!!

Pollo Asado Filiberto's Style!

Another quick and easy (and delicious) chicken recipe!

POLLO ASADO FILIBERTO'S STYLE:

1 lb.  raw chicken, cut into 1-inch chunks
a couple tablespoons of oil
spices and seasonings: salt, pepper, red chile, red pepper flakes, chile con limon (I'm pretty sure I added that since I put it in everything), cumin, granulated garlic, oregano

Heat up the pan or a flat top grill.  Season the chicken chunks with salt and pepper.  Put the oil in the pan and add the chicken to start pan frying it.  As the chicken starts cooking, add the other seasonings, including more salt and pepper if needed.  Don't overdo the seasonings except for the red chile, you can be generous with that one.  Continue to pan fry the chicken so it gets nice and brown, stirring occasionally.  Let the chicken cook for about 10-15 minutes until it's really done.

Now you can make tacos, burritos, or even a salad with chicken on top!  As pictured above, pico de gallo will be delicious with the grilled chicken in a taco or burrito.  Just warm up the tortilla on a comal, large frying pan, or flat top grill so they get warm and soft.

PICO DE GALLO:

This is the salsa cruda (raw salsa), not the fruit with chile and lemon, which is also delicious, but maybe not so delicious wrapped in a tortilla with grilled chicken....  You can also serve pico de gallo with chips and guacamole.

2-3 tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 raw jalapenos, depending on desired heat level, chopped small
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lemon or 3-4 key limes
1 teaspoon of salt

Chop the veggies and add the lemon juice and salt.  Mix everything up together.  Enjoy!