Southwest Soup A'la Heidi

It all started with tamales. A girlfriend and I like to make tamales and recently invited two more of our best gal pals to make them with us. This soups humble beginnings were drippings from our tamale pork. It was so darn wet that we decided to ladle off the juice and use it to mix our masa with (great move on our part). When we were all done and cleaning up, there were still a couple of cups of juice in the bowl. Heidi and I were eyeing it and apparently thinking the same thing, "...is meli going to throw that out?" Lucky for that pork juice, we saved it from the drain.

As luck would have it, Heidi and I were planning on doing a little bio-writing and editing that night. We decided to make something for dinner with that divine pork stock. This was lucky for us, because it was such a great dinner. Lucky for you, because we like to share.

Southwest Soup A'la Heidi

I apologize for my lack of specificity with amounts. Go for the smaller numbers if you are not making much. We went with the higher numbers of ingredients and fed 4 adults and 3 kids.

2-4 C stock (Pork was fabulous, but any that you have will do)
1-2 potatoes, diced fairly small
1/2 onion (which you won't see in these pics, because we respect Heidi)
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pablano pepper, diced (or use red or green if you don't have pablano)
1 -2 carrots, diced
1-2 celery stalks, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
2-3 tsp oregano (flakes)
1-2 tsp cumin (ground)

Saute potato in a little olive oil, don't stir them too much or they will get starchy/sticky. When they start to get a little color add them to a stock pot. Add stock, tomato, and beans. Heat to a boil. While the stock and potato are heating saute garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. Add to stock pot. Add water or more broth at this point to get the consistency you want. Use less liquid if you want a "stew" more for a "soup". Add spices and salt and pepper to taste. Boil covered until potato is done.



Serve as is or dress up.

Garnish ideas include
shredded cheese
sour cream (GF)
avacado or guacamole
cilantro
tortilla chips
warm corn tortillas

As is



Dressed Up

Easter Egg-stravigance

Leftover Easter eggs? Hungry for a quick and easy lunch?

We have no name for this recipe yet, so feel free to offer up a suggestion. (Since we made these for Easter, Todd wanted to call them "The Empty Tomb-atoes") It takes about 15 minutes to make if your eggs are cooked.

(makes 4 servings)
Peel and chop 6 eggs into a medium sized bowl, reserving 3 yolks in a small bowl

Add to chopped eggs:
I stalk celery, finely diced
1 large pickle, finely diced
1/4 of a red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, diced

Mash reserved yolk and add:
2 heaping Tbls mayo (I use Vegenaise)
2-4 Tbls pickle juice (depending on your taste)
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
A dash of dill seed
A dash of celery seed
Mix well

Mix yolk mixture into eggs. Add more mayo if it is too dry for you.

Hollow out 4 medium beef steak tomatoes (or large hot house)
Fill with egg salad
Decorate with tomato cap and or basil
Serve on lettuce leaf
Add a dill spear to the plate

Graciously accept compliments on your amazing food presentation!

Tammy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Disclaimers:
This recipe is not a "healthy" GF recipe. It has no applesauce, it uses SUGAR. It is for serious indulgence.

This recipe is not for the person who wants "a couple of cookies". It uses a 1/4 cup of vanilla - it is for serious quantities of indulgence.

This recipe, developed by my twinny-twin-twin, is beyond a doubt the best GF cookie of all time. It may be because there is so much sugar and fat in this recipe that the type of flour you use is really not of any consequence in the end. Have you been missing your Toll-house? If so, I suggest you get busy and start baking!



Tammy's Chocolate Chip cookies
makes 12 dozen cookies
preheat oven to 375

3 cups butter flavor crisco ( I use spectrum shortning)
2 1/2 C brown sugar
2 1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C milk (I used almond milk, any other milk substitute would work as well)
1/4 C vanilla
4 eggs
7 C GF flour blend of your choice
1 Tblsp salt
1 Tblsp soda
1/2 Tblsp xantham gum
chocolate chips to taste

Combine shortening and sugars. beat until fluffy. Add milk, vanilla, eggs and beat well. In a separate bowl sift remaining ingredients together. Slowly add flour mixture to the sugar mixture while mixing on medium. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake on parchment paper covered pans. do 1 sheet at a time - (trust Tammy on this one, I did not and regretted) Bake 8-10 minutes. Slide parchment off pan IMMEDIATELY and cook cookies some before trying to remove them from parchment.

If this is more than you want to bake at one time, which is probably true for most of us, freeze logs of dough to have on hand. They work just like good ol' whats his name..... ah yes, Pillsbury, the gluteny dough boy! (see tips and tricks below)

TIPS and TRICKS

We usually bake cookies on the stone. These cookies are much softer than most, so I don't recommend using your stone unless you use parchment as well. The best part of using paper with this recipe is that you can simply slide the whole thing onto the cooling rack without disturbing the cookies. You want to get them off the pan IMMEDIATELY so they do not over bake. Once they cool a bit they will hold their shape and you can remove them from the parchment.


This is the look you are going for


If you get something that looks a little more like this - don't panic. My first batch came out really thin and "toffee like". Todd LOVED them, I actually loved the flavor, but this is not the look I was going for. I went back to the mixing bowl and added a few tablespoons flour mix, about a tsp. of xantham gum and mixed well. The next batch was the one you see pictured above.



I don't know about you guys, but if I had 12 dozen baked cookies staring me in the face - I would gain a few pounds...quickly. I have very little restraint for confections of any kind. SO - I baked the cookies we needed, and then plopped some dough onto some parchment, rolled the parchment over it and started to shape it into a log. Once I got a french bread looking roll I simply held onto the ends of the parchment and used it to roll the dough back and forth until it looked like the logs of premade cookies you can buy. Then I rolled it up like you see below and froze it. Once it was hard as a rock, Todd seal-a-meal'd them for me. (note - my logs were so long he had to break them in half to use the sealer machine....oops!) You may want to shoot for smaller rolls than you see here if you are using a machine. If not, you can do them this size and then freeze them in a gallon ziplock.

I pull one out, let it defrost for a bit, slice cookies onto parchment covered sheet, bake at 375 for 8 minutes....mmmmm.....cookies.


Now when I crave these delights again all I have to do is defrost a roll, slice, and bake.

GF Fudge Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream

These are SO yummy. They are easy to make and don't require a flour blend. The flour is Quinoa, which has a bit of a nutty flavor. Todd, who is a bit pickier than me (I assume it is because he can still eat a real live Cinnabon), says they taste a little like I made them with buckwheat. He also says they are, "really good". So there you have it - the gluten eaters thumbs up.

These were for Bryce to eat at a little kid birthday party, so I opted to frost them with good ol' buttercream. I made the frosting more "adult" by adding a whole bunch of coconut to it. You could use any frosting that suits your fancy, or do what I did today with the second batch - eat them plain.

GF Fudge Cupcakes
preheat oven to 375

1/4 C butter (or butter replacer)
1/4 C water
1/4 C cocoa
1/4 C almond milk (or any milk alternative - or MILK if that makes you happy!)
1 C sugar
1 1/4 C Quinoa Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xantham gum
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla

Boil the water and the butter. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa and then milk. Set aside. Sift sugar, flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and xantham gum into large mixing bowl. Add egg yolks, vanilla and cocoa mixture. Mix well. In another bowl, beat egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry. Fold into batter. Fill muffin tin lined with paper baking cups. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool. Store these in a Tupperware type container or a gallon plastic bag - it will keep them moist.

Frost or eat 'em up!

For the coconut buttercream - just find your fave buttercream frosting recipe and add a bunch of shredded coconut. You may need a little less powdered sugar than the recipe calls for. I made mine without measuring a thing - so I can not share it with you until I do it again and employ those pesky measuring tools. If I would have known how yummy my concoction was going to be I would have done it so I could share......really!

Ahh the Joys of Spring

You have to love this time of year. My friend Cindy had it right this morning when she was talking about how Spring lends itself to so much hope and then you look out your door on a day like today and feel absolutely deflated. The flowers are up...but often covered with snow. It looks absolutely beautiful outside.....but is cold as hell and even a bit windy. Winter seems over...and then not (ask the folks in eastern WY and western SD about that this week!)

The best way to be prepared for this tug and pull is to arm yourself with a nice mix of recipes. We grilled steak last Saturday and sat outside sipping hot cocoa after dark, it was so lovely. Tonight I am opting for split pea soup, hopefully it will warm our insides and remind us that winter is not all bad, even if it is long.

Speaking of this split pea soup, it is one of those...hmm...what can I fix for dinner when I really need to go to the store days. I am literally looking at one parsnip, 4 carrots, a few potatoes, and a herd of various onions - Oh and a bag of tomatillas and one pablano pepper. What do you do with all that? Well you decide to make soup and then salsa for baked potatoes for tomorrows lunch. All I have to do now is get to the store later to get some food for the rest of this weekend and next week!

OK -- easy split pea soup......

1 pound slit peas (2 cups)
3 small potatoes diced into bite size
2 carrots, diced fairly small
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1 shallot , diced (you could use all yellow - or any onion that you have on hand - even dried!)
6-8 Cups stock/broth/or water broth mixture
Thyme (I used fresh because I had some - dried will also work)

saute onions and carrots. You can do this in a small pan or in the bottom of your stock pot - either one. Combine all ingredients in a stock pot

and simmer until peas are tender. (about 30 minutes, although I just keep on cooking it until the peas start turning to mush- uncovered for the last 20-30 minutes until it gets really thick because Todd likes it that way)

Salt and Pepper to taste.

If you are thinking -- I don't have the stuff to make this, then make it differently. You have scallions - use those. No potatoes, no problem - skip them. Add celery if you have it. Leftover ham? That makes incredible split pea soup. My favorite thing about split peas is that they are not picky - they are happy to simmer in a pot with just about anything. They also cook fast and require no soaking so they can be a really great "fast food" dinner. I love making this ahead in the crockpot - but it really does come together in 45 minutes or less, so it can be a great saving dinner recipe to add to your favorite quick dinners.

Serve this with crusty bread or rolls...yummy. Stay warm this week and remember -- IT'S SPRING!