Everyone’s heard variations on the saying “The cobbler’s kids go barefoot”, and it’s not all that different around here at times. Sure, we have great meals on a regular basis.. but when things get super busy, we tend to lose all creativity and drive, and slap together one of our go-to meals. Easy, little effort, and very satisfying. In winter, that usually ends up being chili.. but in summer, we love our low country boil.. not a common thing here in Minnesota, but it is SO freaking good! It’s also pretty much the ideal meal for getting together – and would be great for a rehearsal dinner or small, casual wedding dinner.
Archive for the ‘Gluten Free’ Category
Low Country Boil, aka Frogmore Stew
Saturday, July 17th, 2010Peppery Chili
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
I’ve always loved making chili. I’ve never bothered to put together an actual recipe for it, it’s always been a matter of “put stuff in the pot till it’s awesome”. It’s definitely been an interesting exercise to start paying attention to what I’m doing and keeping track of everything, to be able to produce actual recipes!
This chili isn’t my normal “recipe”. This one was actually designed especially for my husband, who has weird issues with tomatoes. He loves ketchup, but doesn’t like tomatoes. Yeah. I don’t get him sometimes, but whatever – he’s worth tweaking a few recipes for 
. This chili recipe gains the vast majority of it’s flavor from the peppers involved – and there are so many peppers involved, this is a GREAT recipe for using up the bounty from your most recent Farmer’s Market raid!
The interesting thing about this recipe is that it does gain SO much flavor from the main ingredients, it really doesn’t need any additional seasoning. Feel free to add a little chili powder or bay leaves if you like, but be sure to try it without, first. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
As with most of my more involved recipes, this makes a LARGE pot, and is great for leftovers! on a per-serving basis, this is a very, very thrifty meal to make, as well.
Homemade “Jolly Rancher” Candies
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
So, this recipe is essentially the same as the one for Candy Apples.. well, aside for the apples, anyway!
The ingredients and technique for making the candy syrup are the same – it’s what you do with it afterwards that makes the difference. The techniques described here can also be used to make “Jolly Ranchers” from leftover candy syrup when making candy apples.
Bananas Foster Pralines
Friday, October 30th, 2009
This recipe combines 2 of New Orleans’ most popular desserts – The flavors of Bananas Foster, in the form of a praline! Highly addictive.
Ginger Molasses Sponge Toffee
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
This is a unique take on an earlier recipe I posted, Sponge Toffee. While traditional sponge toffee was always a favorite as a kid, I developed this recipe to satisfy my more mature tastes as an adult.
This sponge toffee was inspired by one of my favorite goodies, my grandmother’s ginger-molasses cookies. (Recipe coming in December!)
Candy Apples
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Candy Apples are a fun activity for the family, are cheap and easy to make, inspire nostalgia, and are a tasty way to use some of the bountiful apples this season. What’s not to love?
Well.. aside from sugar burns, anyway. While this is an easy recipe, I recommend keeping little hands away from the cooking sugar, and ideally away from the dipping process as well. Kids can have just as much fin picking out the apples, the flavors, etc… without the risk!
Banana Walnut Brittle
Monday, October 26th, 2009
While Peanut Brittle is always nice, I do like to get crazy with things every once in awhile. This is one of my favorite variations on an old standard! This is also particularly nice for gift giving at the holidays!
Sponge Toffee
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Sponge Toffee was one of my favorite treats as a kid. We used to get it at corner stores, farmer’s markets, and gas stations… or make it at home. I loved the contrast between the appearance (bubbles!), and the crispy texture. Whether I’d let it melt in my mouth slowly, or chomp through (and pick the sugar off my teeth for a long time afterwards!), it was just a fun food to enjoy.
As I got older, I realized that gas station sponge toffee is just *no* match for homemade. This is really easy to make, and a lot of fun for kids to watch (From a distance! Hot sugar can be dangerous!). It makes a unique holiday or hostess gift – especially when you dip the finished nuggets of toffee in melted chocolate!
Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Pouches
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
My husband and I love cooking ethnic – or ethnic inspired – dishes at home. Sometimes we’ll come up with ethnic “Iron Chef” style menus, where we’ll pick some of the foundational ingredients of a certain cuisine, and mix and match them for all of our dinners that week. This recipe was as the result of one of those weeks! (more…)
Chicken, Shrimp, & Sausage Jambalaya
Monday, October 19th, 2009 
I LOVE jambalaya! Actually, ever since a trip to New Orleans back in 2005, I have a particular affection for most cajun and creole food in general. It’s always full of flavor, and very, VERY satisfying!
This recipe makes a ton of Jambalaya. With flavoring the stock as I do, and with all of the chopping involved, it is a bit more labor intensive than the average dinner recipe. I like making a huge batch of this on a weekend, then pretty much living on it for a week or two – it makes GREAT leftovers! It freezes fairly well, but never lasts long enough to make it to the freezer (more…)
