This post is really not a recipe, but more of a reminder to myself on how to create a most delightful gluten free pizza using simple leftover ingredients that are in your fridge and freezer.

On that note:  I have to comment here.  We love love Udi's brands of hamburger buns, pizza crust, their french bread is divine, dinner rolls, and the list goes on!  For whatever reason that we know nothing about, we can no longer get Udi's brand of gluten free products where I live in B.C. Canada.  I have tried researching, but come up empty handed.  This has led me to believe they no longer offer their gluten free products in Canada.  It has been about 2 years now at least, perhaps longer.

Where have you gone Udi's?  We love love you!

Luckily I still had a couple of packs of pizza's in the freezer, and 2 years later they were still delicious.  There are other GF brands out there that are great....we just love Udi's, sigh.

Then on another note:  Where has this been all of my life?

This hand held Oxo grater is heaven...and guess what?  I found it in a second hand store for $1.50, can you believe it???  This grater is so easy to use, makes no mess - amazing for grating small pieces of cheese.

So, now onto the method for this most delicious pizza.

We had 1 frozen, thawed rotisserie chicken breast, 12-14 Tblsp. marinara I doctored up with pizza seasonings, about 2 Tblsp. chopped fresh basil, one small yellow zucchini, (slightly wrinkled), and a few Tblsp. of jarred pesto sauce.

If you read my blog you will know, we do not waste food - ever.  So when we throw together a recipe with remaining ingredients that need to be used up we will always go that route.  And this was a very, very, delightful pizza indeed.

Method:

2 Gluten Free pizza crusts - 8-9 inch in size

1 leftover cooked chicken breast - cut into 1/2 inch pieces

12-14 Tblsp. basil marinara sauce - we sprinkled in garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and fennel powder

2-3 Tblsp. fresh chopped basil

4-5 Tblsp. basil pesto

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

2 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 small yellow zucchini, sliced thin, sliced in half

2/3-3/4 cup grated feta cheese

sprinkling of fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cut up your veggies, mix the chicken with pesto, mix any spices & chopped basil with the marinara, grate your cheeses and set aside.

Heat up a pan with the EVOO on low medium heat and saute the onion and green pepper until slightly soft - about 4 min.  Then add in the sliced zucchini, continue to saute another 3-4 min.  Turn off the heat, and toss the chicken bits in scattered throughout the pan lid on.  Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, place your pizza crust onto a pan and spread on your marinara sauce  followed by the veggie chicken mixture, then sprinkle on the feta and Parmesan cheeses.

Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the cheeses are melting and pizza is cooked.

While we may no longer be able to get Udi's pizza crusts, we will make this pizza again with another brand.  But dang! We miss Udi's!

 

 

This is a versatile recipe in terms of seasonings, cast iron pan, and method.  I was not sure how this would turn out, but am happy to say it was yummy.

Here we used the cast iron Kadhai, but a good cast iron skillet is fine to use too.  In terms of vegetables you can use what you have on hand.  Here we used potatoes, shallot, carrots, broccoli, green pepper.

With the seasonings, again you can use what suits your taste.  We used my all purpose season blend, salt and pepper - and a new spice to us:  Mace.  Mace is an old fashioned spice quite like nutmeg, I believe it is the outer shell/casing of nutmeg?  It was used in the early 16th 17th centuries throughout Europe, particularly in Britain.  It is wonderful on vegetables, and particularly potato dishes, and of course a great spice in desserts. It really added a wonderful depth of flavour to the dish.

In terms of the sausage we used Gluten Free English Banger sausages, but again, use what suits your taste.

2 Tblsp. Avocado Oil

2 cups cut up potatoes - we used baby gems cut small

1 1/2 cups fresh chopped vegetables - shallot, broccoli, carrots, green pepper - cut small

5 Gluten Free English Banger sausages

liberal sprinkling of your favourite season blend, salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 tsp. Mace

1/8th cup of water

Add your potatoes to a bowl and add the seasonings, salt and pepper and a good drizzle of Avocado oil.  Toss to coat well.

Heat up the Kadhai or cast iron pan with the Avocado oil on medium heat until nicely heated.  Add in your sausages and cook till nicely browned - about 15 minutes, then place in a 300 degree oven to keep warm while the rest of the meal is cooked.

Add your potatoes to the heated pan, and meanwhile add your vegetables to the same bowl the potatoes were in and toss to coat.

After 3-4 minutes, stir, toss the potatoes then add in your vegetables.

Put a lid on the pan.  From here on you will toss/stir the potatoes and vegetables about every 4 minutes returning the lid to the pan for a good 15 minutes.  Near the 15 min. mark add 1/8th cup of water to the pan and cook the vegetable another 5 minutes until tender. Plate the sausages with the potatoes and vegetables surrounding the sausages, serve while hot.

With a little pre-prep, Chicken tacos with fresh Pico de Gallo is a quick, tasty dinner that comes together in no time at all.  It would also be lovely with fresh cod.  The amounts here can certainly be doubled to feed a bigger group.  You can also used store bought taco seasoning, this one below gave extra special flavours with the chipotle chili powder and smoked paprika.

Here we used corn tacos, but any tortilla can work nicely too.

Taco Seasoning mix:

1 Tblsp. chili powder, garlic powder

1 1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

1 lb. chicken breast or tenders cut into small 1 inch pieces

salt to taste

2 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

1 Tblsp. Taco Seasoning mix - sprinkle over the chicken toss well to coat, and refrigerate 1 - 2 hrs.

Pico de Gallo:

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1 large roma tomato, finely chopped

1/4 of a large green pepper finely chopped (can used jalapeno included if you want extra heat)

handful of chopped cilantro

juice of 1 lime

Chipotle Chili Sauce:

2 Tblsp. Mayonnaise

1 Tblsp. plain yogurt

1/8 tsp. Chipotle Chili

Additional toppings:

chopped avocado, chopped lettuce, grated cheddar cheese

Add all of the Pico de Gallo ingredients to a bowl, mix well and refrigerate - at least 2 hrs. ahead of time.

Mix chipotle chili sauce ingredients in a bowl, and keep in refrigerator till needed.

Add 1 Tblsp. of the taco seasoning to the chicken tossing well to coat, and refrigerate 1-2 hours.

Heat up a pan with the EVOO on medium heat.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees to warm up the taco shells for 10 minutes, or until heated through.

Add the chicken to the heated pan and cook through - about 8 minutes.

Add the chicken to your taco, followed by pico de gallo, cheddar cheese, lettuce, avocado and a drizzle of the Chipotle Chili sauce.

This was a combination of Chinese/Thai flavours.  Initially, the marinade was made with a typical Chinese style marinade.  But then, I decided to turn the meal into a more Thai flavour influence - and it turned out great.  Leftovers the next day were even better.

Marinade:

1 lb. sirloin strips

3 cloves garlic, sliced

3 Tblsp. Gluten Free Soy Sauce

3 Tblsp. water

few splashes sesame oil

1 Tblsp. Rice wine vinegar, or white vinegar

2 Tblsp. Avocado oil

Vegetables:

1/2 cups broccoli florets, 1/2 cup stems, chopped

3 crimini mushrooms sliced and cut in half

1/2 a green pepper, sliced into lengthwise strips, and cut in half

1 shallot, sliced

Thai Sauce:

4 Tblsp. Red Thai Curry Paste

3 Tblsp. peanut butter

1 cup vegetable of beef broth

2 Tblsp. corn starch - mix separately in a bowl with 2 Tblsp. Vegetable stock

chopped cilantro

Make up the marinade, and slice the sirloin rounds into strips.  Add to marinade and refrigerate 4-6 hours.

Add the Thai sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk well and put aside until ready to use.  Don't worry if some of the peanut butter stays a bit clumpy - it will melt once added to the hot pan.

Heat up a cast iron pan or wok with the avocado oil, on medium high heat - on my electric stove I put it at 6.5 mark.  Remove the marinated  sirloin strips and add to the pan.  Continually stir the sirloin, it will only take about 3 minutes to cook, then remove to a bowl and set aside.

To the drippings add in the mushrooms, and shallot.  Turn the heat to medium and saute about 6-7 minutes.  Then add in the broccoli and green pepper, continue to saute another 5 minutes.

Pour in the vegetable broth, lid on and simmer until the broccoli is tender - 3-5 minutes.  Remove the lid and saute to reduce some of the liquid.  Then pour in the Thai sauce mixture stirring and add in the cornstarch mixture - it will thicken quickly.  If it gets too thick add a bit more vegetable stock to get to a nice consistency.  Return the cooked sirloin strips, and saute to lightly re heat through.

Serve with cooked rice, and top with fresh chopped cilantro.

 

 

 

I was not sure what to call this dish.  In fact, it was a recipe I put together using some Ukrainian methods, and ingredients, but would it be called Ukrainian?  I think not in it's entirety, but the influence is certainly there.  From what I have seen, their holy trinity is onion, carrots and potatoes - always.  Of course cabbage is a big one too.  With that in mind, this was how this recipe came about.

This was plenty for 3 people - but increase your amounts if feeding more people.

3 1/2 cups steamed sliced cabbage - on the thin side but not as thin as coleslaw

4 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

cubed ham - enough for 2-3 people, we used a rounded cup full

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 grated carrots - mine were good medium sized

1/4 tsp. dried dill, 1/2 tsp. diced fresh rosemary, 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 2 tsp. Hungarian paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

Cooked potatoes - which will be mashed.

Put the cabbage on to cook as well as the potatoes - enough to serve 2-3 people or however many mouths you will be feeding.  Heat up a large skillet with the EVOO and add in the chopped onion, grated carrots.

Saute about 8 minutes.  Add in the cubed ham and continue to saute.

Once the cabbage is tender, drain well and add to the ham, onion, carrot mixture.  Continue to saute and add in your seasonings.  Turn down to low to keep warm.

Once the potatoes are cooked take off the heat, but do not drain and mash until you have made the Bechamel sauce.

BECHAMEL SAUCE:

1 1/2 cups milk

2 Tblsp. butter

3 Tblsp. Sweet Rice Flour

2 Tblsp. diced shallot

fresh minced Italian flat leaf parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Heat up a pan on low medium heat with the butter and shallot - sauteing until the shallots are translucent.  Season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle in the sweet rice flour, stirring well.  Pour in the milk, whisking well, until nicely thickened.  Remove from the heat and sprinkle in the fresh minced parsley. Drain and mash the potatoes, then plate the mashed potatoes, add a good serving of Bechamel sauce over top, then top with the ham, onion cabbage mixture and an extra sprinkling of minced parsley.  Serve hot - a hearty nutritious meal.

 

This is the first recipe I re created from Food Around The World - Ukrainian recipes.  We love cabbage rolls of any kind, and these were very interesting.

We are used to cabbage rolls smothered in some kind of tomato sauce.  These were steamed with water.

I was unsure of what seasonings to use, so used Hungarian Paprika, Garlic Powder, Dill, fresh Parsley and Salt and Pepper.  Next time I would increase the amounts of these seasonings, which I have done in the recipe below.  Feel free to adjust seasonings to suite your taste.

We usually have cooked rice in the mix for cabbage rolls.  In this particular recipe , soaked mashed red lentils were used.  How intriguing.  It was unclear how long the red lentils were soaked.  We did ours for 6 hours, next time I would do a minimum of 8-10 hours.

We enjoyed the simple sweet flavour of grated carrot in the mix - something we usually do not include.

All this said, these cabbage rolls were quite tasty, hearty and nutritious.  We loved it paired with bacon and onion creamy polenta - something we will make with cabbage rolls again.

1 medium to large head of green cabbage

1/2 cup red split lentils, rinse well (soak 8-10 hours)

3 medium sized carrots, grated

1/2 a large onion, chopped

3 minced garlic cloves

3 large crimini mushrooms chopped on the small side

2 Tblsp. Avocado oil

1 1/2 tsp. Hungarian Paprika

1 tsp. dried dill

1 tsp. dried garlic

salt and fresh cracked pepper

handful of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 egg, whisked

Begin by boiling your head of cabbage in a large pot of water.  Turn down to a good simmer, and cook lid on 12-15 minutes.  Drain carefully into a colander and allow to cool.

Heat up a dutch oven with the Avocado oil low medium heat.  Add the grated carrots, onion, garlic and mushrooms.  Saute 6-8 minutes.

Add in the ground beef and seasonings except for the fresh parsley.  Cook another 3 minutes then remove from the heat.

Next, drain and rinse your lentils well.  Return them to a bowl and mash - be prepared for some muscle work lol.

Add the mashed lentils to the meat vegetable mixture, fresh chopped parsley and then add 1 whisked egg mixing well.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Once the stuffing is all mixed remove the leaves from the cabbage, stuff with the filling and fold the sides in and roll the cabbage roll.  Place on a wire rack that is inserted into a roasting pan. (I also added some extra wedges of cabbage around the pan to keep the cabbage rolls more stable)  Then add boiled water to the pan about half way up the pan.  Cook covered for 1 hr. 20 min.

Next onto the polenta:

1 cup polenta

2 cups water, 2 cups milk

generous amount of salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese

1 Tblsp. butter

1/2 and onion, sliced

5 pieces chopped bacon

Place the bacon and onions into a frying pan, on medium heat.

Cook until nicely browned, and set aside to add on top of the polenta.

Heat up the milk and water with a good tsp. or more of salt.  Once simmering add the polenta, stirring on and off until thick - about 30 minutes.  Check for salt and pepper adding more if needed and add in the butter, stirring well.  Serve alongside the cabbage rolls, topping the polenta with Parmesan cheese and the cooked bacon and onions.

 

 

 

Recently I stumbled upon a youtube video made by Food Around The World.  The videos were of 3 different young women living alone in the mountains, or in small villages (in Ukraine) where they cook local food, are self sufficient in all manners of living.  Often they have a couple of cows, sheep, chickens, they make home made sausages, breads, render lard, make homemade cheese, churn butter, preserve food, forage wild mushrooms, grow gardens, chop wood for wood stove cooking, and carry water from wells.

I love their simple self sufficient lifestyle, and the food looks wonderful.  The videos show what foods/ingredients are being prepared, although there is no recipe.  I would have to guess at some of the seasonings.

There are a some interesting recipes I would like to recreate, so you will from time to time see a few of these national dishes in the coming weeks.  As there is no actual recipe given, I will have to take a guess at the amounts used in the recipes  Therefore, I will do my best to interpret a few of the recipes based on what ingredients we have and what we can get.  And of course, in this household it will all be gluten free.  Hopefully I can do justice to these incredibly strong, resilient, and self sufficient lovely women and their national recipes.  If you are interested in pursuing these stories/recipes further, check out You tube Food Around The World, Ukraine.

Their breads look amazing.  So with that thought in mind I started with Fermented Buckwheat Bread, the recipe can be found here.

Recipes to come....

Well now...this was a recipe where I was "winging it" and let me tell you it exceeded my expectations.  The flavours of garam masala in the meatballs, with the madras curry powder was a match made in heaven.  Add in the fresh vegetables, creaminess of the yogurt, it was delicious.

Meatballs:

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

1 egg, whisk well

2 Tblsp. finely chopped red onion

1/2 tsp. garam masala, salt and fresh cracked pepper

1 Tblsp. Sorghum flour or brown rice flour

To cook meatballs heat up your wok, pan on medium heat with 1 Tblsp. butter, 1 Tblsp. Avocado oil

Vegetables:

2 Tblsp. Avocado oil - use more if needed

3/4 lb. chopped potatoes, chopped in 1 inch pieces - yukon gold work nicely

1/4 red onion sliced into quarter pieces

1/4 red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 lb. cut up cauliflower - cut up not too small or large

good handful of baby fresh spinach

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup well rinsed basmati rice

3 Tblsp. yogurt

2 tsp. Madras curry spice

2 bay leaves

good handful of chopped green onion and cilantro

In a bowl mix up the ingredients for the meatballs and shape into balls.  Refrigerate 1-2 hours before cooking, and remove from fridge 1/2 an hr. before cooking

Heat up a wok, or large cast iron pan with the butter and Avocado oil on medium high heat.  Fry the meatballs in batches so the pan is not overcrowded, about 6 minutes each side.  Transfer to a bowl and put aside.

Add more Avocado oil the pan and add in the potatoes, onion, and red pepper.  Cook a good 12 minutes, sauteing.

Then add in the cauliflower, spinach, rice, chicken stock, madras curry spice, and 2 bay leaves. Mix well scraping up any brown bits in the pan.  Bring to a good simmer, lid on and then turn down low heat to simmer 12 minutes.

Remove lid and return the meatballs to the pan, stirring occasionally, add salt and pepper to taste continue to cook another 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and add in the yogurt stirring well to combine.

Serve with a good sprinkling of chopped cilantro and green onion.