Brig Dip

This is waaaay overdue.

But earlier in the year, when I was overrun with figs, I decided to make brig dip.  Super easy appetizer... I overcooked mine, which did nothing to diminish the taste, only diminishing the appearance.

Ingredients:
1 hunk of brie
1 1/2 -2 cups fig chutney

Pre-heat oven to 350 or so.  Peel your brie and place on a baking sheet.  I used a small one to do this in the toaster oven.  Pour the chutney over the brie.  Cook for about ten minutes or so, until brie is slightly melty.  DO NOT FORGET ABOUT IT.  If you do, it will look like this:

I served mine with toasted bits of corn tortilla. If you're not gluten-free, this would be excellent with sourdough bread or crackers.

Hot Wings!!!!

Occasionally, we miss restaurant food.  Occasionally our sinuses go nuts and we want something hot.  Occasionally, we feel like eating bad.

Hot wings satisfy all of those occasions.  So easy, so much cheaper than eating them out somewhere.  But not a bit healthier.  OOOPS.

We do have a deep fryer (sad but true) and pull it out sometimes for wings.  Sometimes we bake them.
They are better fried.  The thing about frying them is they get that crispy, crusty, yummilicous texture that lets you know you are eating something bad for you.

The other secret to wings is in the sauce. Some places make sauce that is too mild.  Some places make sauce that is hot but has no flavor.  Some have all flavor and no kick.

PUH-LEASE

You gotta have good sauce.

Yummy, Fabulous Hot Wing Sauce
1/2 stick butter
2 tbsp. minced garlic
32 oz. bottle of a base hot sauce (Frank's Hot Sauce or Texas Pete will do)
1 tsp. worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. lemon zest.

Mix all with a wisk.  Don't skip real butter!  Toss your wings in it... this should coat about 15 or 16 wings.  Serve.  Repent and eat your veggies tomorrow.

Gluten-Free Corn Dogs

My brilliant husband decided that we NEEDED corn dogs.  Um, I'm not especially sure that anyone ever NEEDED corn dogs, but he was cooking dinner, so I went with his theory.

His recipe:
1 pack of chicken hot dogs that are gluten-free
1 1/2 cups cornmeal (not cornmeal mix)
1/2 cup gluten-free all purpose flour mix (we like Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Mix together all batter ingredients until they are really good and smooth.  Heat oil to really hot in a pan on the stove, about 375 degrees.  Once the oil is ready, dip your hot dogs into the batter, making sure you have a nice, fat coating.  Drop into the grease one by one and cook through.  Serve as immediate as possible with mustard and ketchup.

Turkey Mu Shu

Random, I know, but like most of my recipes, I had a craving.  Sweet meat and pancakes (ish).  Traditional mu shu is typically pork, which my husband doesn't eat, and served with pancakes, which my son and I can't eat.  And I wanted it to be easy.

Easy it was. I did about 10 minutes of prep work ahead of time, and when it came time to actually make dinner, this was less than a 30 minute meal.  Rachel Ray, eat your heart out!

I thawed the meat ahead of time, cheated and used corn tortillas and bought my veggies pre-chopped.  But it was a keeper, definitely.

Recipe:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 pkg. broccoli slaw
4 tbsp. tamari sauce
2 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. corn starch
4 eggs

for the Hoison sauce:
5 tbsp. tamari sauce
3 tbsp. natural smooth peanut butter
3 tsp. honey
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. tabasco
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Mix together ground turkey, ginger, garlic, tamari sauce, and corn starch in a large bowl.  Stick it in the refrigerator to marinate.  If you are making homemade hoison sauce, mix together above ingredients with a fork.  Set it aside.

Go do whatever you have to do for a couple of hours.
When you're ready to make dinner, pull out your turkey, a pack of corn tortillas, your sauce, and your slaw mix.  Heat a large skillet and add the sesame oil.   Add the turkey and brown. Remove the turkey to a bowl or plate.  Beat up your eggs and cook in the same skillet, flipping once.  Chop.  Remove to plate or bowl, and toss in the broccoli slaw.  Stir fry it until it is just limp.  Add the turkey and egg back to it, and about a half-cup of water.  Cook on medium heat about five minute or until the sauce is reduced.

Meanwhile, steam the tortillas in the microwave.  To serve, spread a tablespoon or so across the corn tortilla, add the turkey and veggie mixture, and roll up.

Don't fight with each other over the last of the hoison sauce.  You can always make more.

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.