Gluten-Free Fried Okra

Something about being gluten-free makes me crave foods I never ate or cooked regularly before I was gf. Fried foods definitely fall into that category! I do try to eat healthy and cook healthy for my family. But I am a Georgia peach and our okra plants produced great big okra...too big for pickling. And my youngest had never had fried okra..... Ok, ok. Enough excuses!

Gluten-free fried okra:
5 or 6 large pieces fresh okra
1 cup cornmeal (NOT cornmeal mix.. It contains wheat flour and is not gluten-free)
1/2 cup gf flour mix (I used Bob's but it doesn't really matter)
2 cups milk (I used goat's milk)
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Black pepper
coconut oil

Directions:
Mix together all dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour milk into another small bowl. Start heating coconut oil (enough to coat the bottom of pan). Wash okra and slice into medallions. Dip each piece into the milk and then in dry ingredients. Add battered okra into the hot oil. Cook until brown on one side, then flip. Once second side is browned, remove from pan and drain grease. Salt and serve hot. Eat a few before debuting to the kids or you won't get any!

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Socca.. how I love thee!

I tried socca a while back but wasn't overly thrilled with it, just kinda appeased that there was a bread-like substance about.  I obviously didn't do a good job making it.

Because now I'm in LOVE.

When I went to Seattle last week, I made a pan.  And I cut the slices and made a sandwich to take on the plane.  A SANDWICH.  A sandwich that didn't make me sick.  As a breadman's daughter, that means A LOT.

And I found a much, much easier recipe to make here on the New York Times.  I cut the amount of rosemary and pepper in half, but otherwise left it the same.  Served it with spaghetti (made with rice noodles) for dinner.  I didn't even miss the garlic bread.

Salmon Sauté

So I went last week to Seattle on a business trip, and actually dreaded trying to navigate eating gluten-free.  I was very pleasantly surprised that there were options everywhere I went, even striking it lucky at an Italian joint that happened to have gluten-free pasta on hand.

The best meal I had by far, however, was in Pike Place Market at the Athenian, a little seafood joint overlooking the water. I ordered their Salmon Sauté and it literally melted in my mouth.  It was fabulous.

Sad that my family didn't get to enjoy it, I came home and made my own version. Sadly, my salmon wasn't as fresh so it didn't have quite the same taste, but it still came out pretty darned good.

Salmon Sauté

8 oz. Salmon (preferably wild-caught)
3 tsp. lemon zest
2 onions
1 bell pepper
2 banana peppers
7 cherry tomatoes
3 leaves basil
2 celery stalks
1 tbsp. butter
2 tsp. minced garlic
3 garlic cloves
copious amounts of olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
brown rice
water
fresh squeezed lemon juice

Start your rice.  While it is cooking, chop your onions, peppers, and celery, and set aside.  Slice the garlic cloves.  Quarter your cherry tomatoes and put them in a separate bowl from other veggies.  Let rice cook about halfway before starting everything else, just so it all finishes up at the same time.

Once you're ready to start, heat a large skillet and pour in about 2 tbsp. olive oil.  Once it's hot, add in peppers, onions, celery, and sliced garlic.  Cook on medium heat until veggies start to soften, then push to the side of the pan.  Turn the heat up to medium-high and place salmon in empty space, skin side down.

Rub olive oil over the top of the salmon.  Continue stirring veggies to ensure they don't burn.  Cook the salmon about 5 minutes, or until skin separates easily when you pick up the salmon with a spatula.  Remove skin and discard.   Cut salmon up into bite-size pieces and return to pan.  Add in butter, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.  Lower heat back to medium and cook, stirring continuously. After about 5 minutes or so, add in tomatoes and basil.  Reduce heat to low, and continue cooking until fish is cooked through and/or rice is done.  If your rice is taking FOREVER (like mine) reduce the heat to almost off so the fish doesn't overcook.

Serve over rice with fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Verdict-- the whole family enjoyed it, but the baby is going through an anti-green stage, so he pulled all the peppers and celery out and argued with his dad about eating them.  But definitely a keeper.

Vanilla Pears

Randomly my 7 year old was watching a cooking show the other night and asked for vanilla pears.  I had never heard of such, but was impressed she would ask for such a thing.  So on a Saturday morning I found myself at the market buying organic bourbon vanilla extract.

And here's my recipe:
2 1/2 tbsp. organic bourbon vanilla extract
2 tbsp. lemon juice.
1/8 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. butter
2 pears, washed, halved and de-seeded
ground cinnamon

Wash and slice your pears as directed above.  Place in the bottom of a greased baking dish and drizzle lemon juice over.  Sprinkle over with brown sugar and then drizzle on vanilla.  Top each pear with 1/4 of the butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Cook in convection oven on 350 for 50 minutes, turning the pear halves over once.  Baste them often with the juice in the bottom of the pan.

Serve immediately.  Eat yours quickly, before someone tries to take it!