We haven’t had the use of the dishwasher since May’s tornado – it’s been used to store the glassware ever since! We’ve been living off takeout. While my access to the kitchen has been sporadic at best, my brain hasn’t taken a break, so I’ve had this LONG list of ideas and theoretical recipes brewing, with no ability to do anything about it, short of write them down. I tell you, working through those ideas on paper, while being stuck with months crappy fast food? Torture.

One of the things I wanted to make this whole time was a proper tourtiere (“tortiere”, for some). It’s a French Canadian meat pie, and it’s soooo good when made properly. Also, as part of the planning process, I worked on a gluten free pastry crust that wouldn’t make me grieve for my inability to eat wheat.

I did it! Yesterday was my first day with the new kitchen, so I rolled out of bed and almost immediately went to buy groceries. With 3 items I wanted to make, Tourtiere was to be made in the afternoon, closer to suppertime. Couldn’t handle it, dug in to the preparation right away! I tell ya, the filling, as it’s cooking, smells amazing on the best of days. All those fresh veggies, herbs… yum. To someone who’s eaten more Wendy’s takeout in the past few months than anyone should have to in a lifetime? Absolutely amazing.

The crust also turned out extremely well – you’d never peg it as being a gluten free crust. Very rich and flaky! Oh, so good. I just had some leftovers for breakfast – this recipe is definitely a winner!

Oh, and if you want to make a regular, non-gluten free version? Just swap out the crust for your favorite double-crust recipe, or premade dough.

Tourtiere Recipe

1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into ~ 1/3″ cubes
1-2 Tbsp dried savory
2-3 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cloves
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups broth

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8oz) brick cream cheese, softened
2 3/4 cups all purpose Gluten Free flour
1/4 cup corn starch

1 egg
1 Tbsp cold water

Combine meats, vegetables, and seasonings together in a large pan or pot, stirring until everything is relatively uniform. Add the milk and the broth, stirring once again.

Bring mixture to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and simmer – stirring often – until the liquid has cooked off, and the meat has broken down almost to a paste. This should take about an hour, give or take. Once it’s ready, remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Beat butter and cream cheese until well mixed and soft. Slowly add flour and corn starch. Once all flour is added, turn out and knead until well incorporated and smooth. Form a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 425 F

Divide dough into 2 parts – one slightly bigger than the other. Roll the bigger section out , use it to line a deep-dish pie pan – carefully working it into the corners. Fill pie pan with meat filling, spreading it into the corners and mounding it in the center.

Roll out the second part of dough, cover the pie filling. Crimp the edges as desired, poke a couple of slits in it. If desired, roll any extra dough very thin, cut into shapes, and apply to the crust for decoration. Whisk together egg and water, brush over the entire tri

Whisk the egg together with water, use a pastry brush to coat the entire crust with a thin wash of this glaze.

Bake at 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown, serve warm or cold.

I haven’t had a functional kitchen since we bought this house, a year ago. The kitchen, as we bought it, was only barely functional – you may have seen the “before” pictures and description on twitter. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting the awful “befores” when I can finally post the “afters”!

This weekend is all about building the cabinetry to surround the slide-in oven, which has been free-standing since we moved in. By Monday, I should not only have the base cabinets, but tiled counter AND backsplash there, also. *CANNOT WAIT*. I’m not being facetious there, either. We’ve been discussing all of the great foods I haven’t been able to make in a long time, as well as the recipes I’ve been mentally designing ever since losing my kitchen. All of this takeout food… ugh.

So, we went to the store to pick up groceries for the first couple of meals I’ll be able to make, and I used one of my new counters – and my freshly-installed sink area! – to make Cod au Gratin on Friday night. Aw yeah. Cod au Gratin is a traditional Newfoundland dish, and one of my all time favorites. Generally speaking, it consists of cod, Béchamel sauce, and cheese / bread crumbs on top… but – of course – I started bastardizing it the first time I made it. Béchamel because a hearty cheese sauce, filled with tons of sharp cheddar. I’ve made this with dill, with asparagus, with bacon, and with other seafood involved. It’s just one of those recipes that I make by “feel”, and I’ve never written down measurements or anything as I’ve gone. Til now.

This version is for a good base cod au gratin – there’s a lot more going on in it than the basic, traditional recipe – but that’s how I like it. This version uses a lot of my favorite flavors to combine with fish – lemon, parsley, garlic, onions. Feel free to add or substitute items as you like… dill instead of parsley. Add some veggies. Change the cheese. Top with buttered bread crumbs or smashed potato chips… it’s a very versatile recipe!

Note: Yep, I’ve made this gluten free, because I’m self serving like that If you’re a purist, feel free to start this with a Béchamel sauce, rather than my milk-and-cornstarch base!

Cod Au Gratin

4 lbs boneless cod loins*
1/4 cup corn starch
4 cups milk
3 Tbsp prepared Dijon mustard
2 tsp minced garlic
1 small onion, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1/3-1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt
Pepper
2 cups shredded white cheddar
1 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut cod into 1″ pieces, arrange in a 9×13″ baking pan. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, whisk cornstarch with 1 cup of milk, until smooth and no lumps remain (floating, or stuck to the bottom edges of the pan. Add remaining milk, mustard, garlic, and onions, whisk till well incorporated. Heat over medium, until steaming.

Once sauce mixture starts to thicken, add lemon zest, parsley, and 1 1/2 cups of white cheddar cheese, stirring until thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour sauce over fish, stirring to coat and distribute evenly. Scatter remaining white cheddar cheese across the top of the fish mixture, followed by all of the Parmesan.

Bake – uncovered- for about 1 hour, or until fish is cooked through, and sauce is bubbly. Serve hot.

Makes 8-12 servings

* If using frozen fish, partially thaw it, cut it, then allow it to fully thaw and DRAIN before putting it in the baking pan.

A couple weeks ago, though, we were rifling through the gluten free freezer area, because I desperately wanted pizza, and was willing to make that compromise to get it. My husband saw a package of Amy’s “Salsa Verde Tamales”, and had to have it – even if it was labeled as a gluten free product. I’d never had a tamal before, so agreed to give it a shot – the photo DID look tasty!

Damn. Frozen, prepared food from a grocery store has NO business being THAT good.

Not sure if it was an accurate representation of a tamal or not, I started researching. Convenience food is great every once in awhile, but this was obviously something that I needed to learn to make. Aside from being inherently gluten free (as I soon found out)… my husband is also the biggest corn freak on the face of the planet, and the idea of wrapping his meal IN corn? As I said – quite obviously needed to learn to make it.

So created my own filling recipe. Then, I read a bunch about the dough and rolling, took bits and pieces of info that I liked from a few sources, and came up with my own recipe. Completely bastardized, I know – it’s probably nowhere close to authentic – but it IS super tasty. If you don’t want to include beer, substitute chicken broth.

We used pre-made salsa verde, because I wanted to keep the cost down. Effort too, as I had NO idea what to expect, this being my first time. I recommend not only starting the corn husks soaking the night before, but also making the filling ahead of time.

This may seem expensive at first, but it makes a TON of tamales – I think we ended up with about 70. Very, very cheap meals!

Salsa Verde Tamales

1 or 2 package (8 oz) dried corn husks*

Filling:
6 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup beer (Corona)
1 onion, finely chopped
6 jalapenos, finely chopped
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp salt
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
1-2 bunches cilantro, chopped
2-3 16oz jars of Salsa Verde (we used Ortega)
2 lbs Colby-jack cheese, shredded

Masa Dough:
9 cups Masa Harina
5 tbsp onion powder
3 tsp garlic salt
1.5 Tbsp cumin
1.5 Tbsp coriander
3 big handfuls dried parsley
3 Tbsp cayenne powder
7.5 cups chicken broth
3 cups beer (Corona)
3 cups lard

In a large bucket or stock pot, cover corn husks with hot water. When water has cooled, separate the husks, drain a bit of the water, and cover with more hot water. Let sit overnight.

Separate chicken breasts (if needed), and trim any undesireables from them (fat, etc). Boil in a large pot of water until cooked all the way through.

Remove chicken breasts from water, allow to cool. Using two forks, pull the chicken breast apart, into shreds of bite sized pieces.

Place shredded chicken, beer, onion, jalapenos, and lime juice into a large pot or pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and jalapeno slices soft. Most of the beer should have either cooked off or absorbed by this point.

Add salt, corn, cilantro, and salsa verde. Continue cooking until everything is thoroughly heated. Remove from heat, add shredded cheese, stir until everything is well combined. Set aside, make the dough:

In a large bowl, combine masa harina, onion powder, garlic salt, cumin, coriander, parsley, andcayenne powder, stirring until combined.

In a large pot, combine chicken broth and beer, heating until about to boil. Remove from heat, dump in the dry ingredient mixture. Stir until a smooth, thick dough forms. Allow to sit for 20 minutes.

As dough is resting, whip lard with a stand or hand mixer until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.

After the 20 minutes, add the lard to the dough, stirring until well combined. If the dough is too thick to be spreadable (should be the consistency of peanut butter), add a little more beer or chicken broth to thin it out a little.

Now, time to wrap the tamales. From everything I read, there’s about 10 million ways you can do this. As most involved an open side – something I was NOT interested in – here’s how I did it:

Pick out a large husk and a smaller husk. Overlap the wide ends slightly, with the small husk underneath the larger one, as pictured.

Measure about 1/3 cup of masa dough onto the middle of the larger husk, spreading out slightly.

Use a piece of plastic wrap to spread out the dough into a longish rectangle, as pictured. I basically just put the plastic wrap over the dough, and smoother it out from the top – not moving the plastic wrap at all.

Spread about 1/4 cup of filling in a long row up the middle of the length of dough rectangle, avoiding the last inch or so on each end.

Pick up the larger husk and fold it together, taking care to seal in the filling. You may need to poke it a bit. Once it’s folded and sealed, flip it to one side of the large husk.

Fold up the pointy end of the husk, tightly against the bottom of the tamal.

Fold in one long side of the husk, snug against the tamal.

Roll the tamal, or fold in the other end. The basic idea if to completely envelope the sides and bottom, with no dough left exposed.

Once rolled, place the tamal seam side down on the smaller husk. The open side should be facing into the small husk, overlapping the husks by an inch or two.

Roll the small husk around the tamale.

Fold the pointy end of the small husk in over the “seam”, completely enveloping the main tamal roll.

I went traditional and used long strips of (broken or otherwise useless) corn husks to tie this off. Feel free to do that – but next time, I’ll definitely be using kitchen twine instead. Too much fussing around for my tastes!

Depending on how the wrap went, some tamales may require 2 ties. It’s all good.

Repeat process about a million 70 times.

Place tamales in a large steamer. Depending on your equipment, you may need to do this in several batches. We used a turkey fryer over propane burner! (Which is actually our home brewing setup!)

Put enough water in the bottom to almost touch the bottom of the steam basket (but not), and steam for about 2 hours, until dough is cooked through and firmed up.

These can be frozen. We froze them IN the wrappers, stored in freezer bags. We bring a bag out as we need it, allow to thaw, and then remove husks to reheat.

Traditionally, these are served without sauce… but we prefer them with a bit of salsa.

*I recommend going with 2 packages. As we found out, a good portion of the package were either broken or too small to bother fussing with!

Kale chips are so easy, and SO good. You’d be surprised how fast one can plow through an entire head of kale by themselves, when done this way. My husband and I both prefer them to potato chips, and they never last long around here.

The only downside to this is that it requires several batches to be baked. Kale shrinks down to almost nothing as it bakes, so you can find yourself baking 6 rounds in the oven, then snarfing it all in 10 minutes. Totally worth it, anyway!

Now, this recipe is labeled as “kale chips”, but you can use the techniques here to make roasted chips out of almost any dark leafy green. Baby spinach makes delicate, papery chips. Mustard greens make pretty chips with a sharp bite to them. Try collard greens, turnip greens – whatever you like – just be sure to keep an eye on them. The thinner/more delicate the green (baby spinach), the less cooking time it’ll need. You don’t want to burn them!

Kale Chips Recipe

Kale (I’ll usually do about 3 bunches for a batch)
Olive oil spray
salt

Preheat oven to 350F

Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper, spray with olive oil.

Wash kale, and shake/towel/spin dry. Cut the hard “ribs” out of the leaves, and rip into pieces.

Arrange kale on cookie sheets, so that they are tightly spaced, but not overlapping. Spray olive oil across the tops, then sprinkle with a little salt.

Bake kale 1 sheet at a time for 11-13 minutes, or until completely dry. Cool a little, then enjoy! These are great fresh out of the oven, but can also be put aside for later – IF they last!

Forget everything you’ve heard about fruitcake, and about gluten free baking. This is a gorgeous, extremely tasty fruitcake that will be loved by all – fans of regular fruitcake, fruitcake haters, people with gluten allergies, and even those who aren’t restricted to gluten free.

This cake has a wonderful texture – you’d never know it was gluten free. Trust me – I’m the BIGGEST snob about gluten free baked goods!

This cake, though? I’d eat this for breakfast, in addition to as a snack, or dessert. I’ll be making variations of this throughout the year, to satisfy any urge for baked goods. This is WAY too good to be designated JUST a holiday thing!

We used a mix of raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots, and pineapple, but you can use a combination of whatever dried fruit you love. It is boozed up with Southern Comfort, which works SO well with the fruit flavors, in my opinion.

For a HUGE variety of dried fruits, there’s no beating Nuts Online. Apples, blackberries, cantaloupe – so much variety! Just go for the more natural, chewy type dried fruit. Banana chips, freeze dried, etc won’t work as well.

Gluten Free Fruitcake

2 3/4 cup mixed dried fruits *
2/3 cup Southern Comfort **
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour blend
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped pecans

A day or two before baking the fruitcake, chop dried fruits into pieces, mix in Southern Comfort, and cover.

When ready to make the fruitcake, Preheat oven to 325F. Spray an 8″ round cake pan (spring form pan works, also), and then line it with parchment paper. I like to cut a round just slightly bigger than the bottom diameter of the pan, centering it, and smoothing the edges slightly up the side of the pan, folding and easing as necessary. Then, I cut a “collar” of parchment, about 5″ x 28″. Fold that in half along the length, and then place that – folded side down – around the inside edge of the cake pan.

Strain dried fruit mixture, leaving it in your sieve to drain while you prepare the rest of the cookie batter. Be sure to reserve the Southern Comfort / fruit syrup that strains out!

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg YOLKS (reserving the whites separately), vanilla, and zests, continue beating until eggs are fully incorporated and mixture is once again smooth and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the butter & sugar mixture, beat gently until well combined. Add milk, continuing to beat until well combined. Add in the strained fruits, mixing once more until well combined. Set aside.

In a – very clean – mixing bowl or stand mixer, whip the egg whites on high speed, until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped egg whites into the main batter, until all of the “white” disappears. Gently mix in the pecans, just until well distributed.

Pour cake batter into prepared cake pan, smooth around the pan to push the parchment paper “collar” against the sides of the pan. Gently bang the pan onto a flat surface a few times to knock out any air bubbles.

Bake for about an hour and a half – hour and 45 minutes, until a knife poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.

While cake is still hot, pour reserved Southern Comfort runoff evening over the top of the cake. Allow to cool fully before removing from pan.

* Although I’ve been a happy repeat customer for years, I am required by FTC law to disclose: Nuts Online actually gifted me a few ingredients for the development of some recipes several months ago. I would never in a million years recommend a company that I wasn’t thrilled with. It was my history as a BIG FAN of theirs, that prompted me to work with them in this manner in the first place. I receive no compensation for this endorsement – I just love em!

** If you’re not a fan of Southern Comfort, use Jack Daniels, Rum, or Brandy.

You see, I’m one of those people that hate fruitcake. It’s not that I buy into mass “ew!” hysteria (I love broccoli and Brussels sprouts, for instance!), it’s that I find glaceed / candied fruit to be one of the nastiest things on the planet. I mean, right up there with Velveeta. Gross. Then, there is the “gluten free” issue. As I mentioned in my recipe for an Easy way to make French Macarons, I am NOT a fan of anything that uses fake flours to make a regular recipe into a gluten free recipe. I’m a major “Gluten Free” Snob, and pretty much stick to treats that are inherently gluten free, such as coconut macaroons, Pavlova, and French Macarons.

I’ve just always found anything made with the fake flours to be nasty, both in taste and texture.

You may be asking yourself, right about now, WHY I created this recipe. Well, I’ll tell you – painkillers!

I really hate taking painkillers, as they make me feel really gross. I have to be in really rough shape to even consider it – and making tamales this weekend really beat me up. When I couldn’t move my arm/shoulder without screaming pain for a few hours, I finally caved in.

45 minutes later, I was sorta woozy and craving fruitcake. Yes, I know – I *HATE* the stuff.

So, I did what one would expect an ADD, creative baker with gluten allergies to do when high as a kite – I designed a gluten free recipe, and demanded nicely asked my husband to drive me shopping for the ingredients I would require.

I chopped the fruit and soaked them in booze overnight, looking forward to baking them the next day.

OH. WOW. These are amazing! I mean, amazing-amazing, not “amazing – for a gluten free cookie”. The substitution of dried fruits for glaceed, the Southern Comfort… it just created this vivid palette of flavor, which *completely* hid any gluten-free nastiness! With so much texture from the fruit and nuts, the cookies COMPLETELY lack any of the weird texture issues I have with normal gluten free cookies.

These were so fabulous, my not-stuck-in-gluten-free-hell husband LOVES them. A few days later, and I’m already putting on a second batch! So good!

We used a mix of raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots, and pineapple, but you can use a combination of whatever dried fruit you love. Oh, and don’t worry about buying too much – not only will you want to put on another batch once you try these… but I’ll be posting a recipe for gluten free fruitcake tomorrow!

For a HUGE variety of dried fruits, there’s no beating Nuts Online. Apples, blackberries, cantaloupe – so much variety! Just go for the more natural, chewy type dried fruit. Banana chips, freeze dried, etc – they won’t work as well.

Gluten Free Fruit Cake Cookies Recipe
(This makes about 20-24 LARGE cookies… probably a good idea to double the recipe!)

1 lb (About 3 cups) mixed dried fruit*
1 cup Southern Comfort **
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 cup gluten free all-purpose “flour”
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 lb. pecans, chopped

A day or two before baking the cookies, chop dried fruits into pieces, mix in Southern Comfort, and cover.

Preheat oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or coat well with baking spray. Strain dried fruit mixture, leaving it in your sieve to drain while you prepare the rest of the cookie batter.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and zests, continue beating until eggs are fully incorporated and mixture is once again smooth and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add most of it (reserve about 1/4 cup) to the butter & sugar mixture, beat gently until well combined.

Add strained fruit to the reserved flour mixture, toss well to coat the pieces (to separate them a bit). Add coated fruit and pecans to the cookie batter, mix well.

Use a tablespoon, cookie scoop, or small ice cream scoop to drop rounded spoonfuls of the batter onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool on sheets for 5 minutes or so, before gently transferring to baking racks to finish cooling.

Once cookies are cool, keep them stored in airtight containers. Much like actual fruitcake, these tend to get even better with age!

* Although I’ve been a happy repeat customer for years, I am required by FTC law to disclose: Nuts Online actually gifted me a few ingredients for the development of some recipes several months ago. I would never in a million years recommend a company that I wasn’t thrilled with. It was my history as a BIG FAN of theirs, that prompted me to work with them in this manner in the first place. I receive no compensation for this endorsement – I just love em!

** If you’re not a fan of Southern Comfort, use Jack Daniels, Rum, or Brandy. Also, add a pinch each of cloves and nutmeg – it’ll work fabulously with these other spirits.

Knowing that I’d only need a small amount of potato, I got a bit lazy .. Err.. CREATIVE, and picked up a couple “sour cream and chive” baked potatoes at Wendy’s!

It only took a minute to scrape off the chives, and voila! Tons of time saved. Suck it, Martha Stewart!

Knowing that my husband hasn’t been fond of peppermint patties – but was willing to have his opinion changed over homemade ones! – I picked up some good dark chocolate to dip these in. You can dip them in whatever chocolate you want – chocolate chips, a few good chocolate bars, or baking chocolate. Also, feel free to play with the flavoring in this! If you’re not a fan of mint, ANY extract can be used! Add a little food coloring, and you can make an assortment of cherry, orange, maple… whatever fillings you can imagine!

This recipe works up quickly. It only takes about 5 minutes to mix it up, another 5 or so to roll/flatten, and probably 10-15 to dip them. SO worth it.

Enjoy!

Homemade Peppermint Patties Recipe

2 russet potatoes
2 Tbsp butter, softened
Pinch of salt
6+ cups powdered sugar (icing sugar, confectioner’s sugar)
1-2 tsp peppermint extract
~ 12 oz chocolate of choice

Bake potatoes until soft all the way through. (Or cheat and buy baked potatoes from Wendy’s!. )

Cut potatoes in half, scoop the insides into a mixing bowl, being careful not to include any of the skin. Add butter and salt, mash as well as you can – you want it as smooth as possible!

Carefully stir in 1 cup of powdered sugar – the mixture will go VERY liquid, don’t worry when this happens!

If there are any lumps in the mixture at this point, run it through a wire sieve, mashing the mixture as you go. Discard any lumps that you can’t force through.

Stir in peppermint extract (1 tsp for mildly minty, up to 2 tsp for “in your face” minty!) until well incorporated. Gradually add the rest of the powdered sugar, stirring until it forms a thick dough. (You may need more than 6 cups, depending on how wet your potatoes were!). Knead the dough a couple times, until it forms a smooth ball.

Pinch off bits of the dough that are big enough to make balls that are about 1″ in diameter. Roll each bit into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Place disks on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Once all of the dough is made into disks, place cookie sheet into a freezer for at least 2 hours.

When you’re ready to dip the mints:

Chop up the chocolate into little pieces, place in a glass bowl, and melt them. I like to microwave them in 30 second intervals (stirring after each), because I can’t be bothered with a double boiler.

When chocolate is fully melted and smooth, remove cookie sheet from the freezer and dip them one at a time.

I placed a disk on a fork (on it, not speared with it!), and gently turned it over a few times in the chocolate. With the mint on the flat surface of the fork, I gently knocked the fork against the bowl a few times to get rid of excess chocolate.

For a smooth top, carefully slide the mint off of the fork, and onto foil or parchment paper. For the more textured top, flip the mint upside down, and use the fork to swirl chocolate on any “bald” spots.

Let mints cool until chocolate is hardened, then enjoy!

When I was a kid, my mother used to make meatloaves formed around hardboiled eggs. Loved these “dinosaur eggs” then, and was inspired to come up with my own version a few years ago. The veggies in this version provide a ton of flavor to the meat, and make for a colorful, healthy dish.

To make this recipe “paleo”, just use a paleo-friendly sauce (even just pureed tomatoes!), and omit the cheese.

“Scotch Egg” Meatloaf

1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup grated veggies*
½ cup mushrooms, washed and finely chopped
½ small onion, finely chopped
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1 lb ground beef (93/7)
1 ½ lb mild Italian sausage
1 egg
1 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp black pepper
6 hard boiled eggs, peeled
2 cups sauce of choice**
1 cup shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Combine oil, grated veggies, mushrooms, onion, and garlic together in a frying pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until veggies are soft, mushroom moist, and onions are translucent. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, Italian sausage, and egg. Add vegetable mixture, parsley, and black pepper, mix well.

Divide mixture into 6 equal balls. One at a time, flatten the balls into large disks, and wrap one around each hard boiled egg. Pinch the edges together and roll the new “ball” around in your hand to seal it well.

Arrange the 6 individual meatloaves in a glass baking dish, pour sauce** over all of them. Bake for 1 hour. Sprinkle cheese on top of the meat loaves, bake for another 10 minutes.

*Grated veggies: I use a mix of carrots and celery, but feel free to different vegetables if you like. Zucchini would work well!

** I pureed 1 small can of fire roasted tomatoes together with ½ cup roasted red pepper pesto. Use whatever sauce you’d like!

So when my husband recently requested a batch of stuffed mushrooms, I knew I’d want to play with my recipe a bit. The results were spectacular, so I’d like to share them with you!

The addition of both artichoke and mushrooms definitely makes this a mushroom that eats like a MEAL, so I found mushrooms that were about 3″ in diameter. While this size made a great presentation for a dinner (By that, I mean we didn’t have the “we’re pigging out on APPETIZERS as a meal!” guilt!), feel free to use regular button or baby bella mushrooms for appetizer sized bites.

Shrimp and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms

1 Tbsp olive oil
9 whole medium sized portabella mushrooms (about 3″ in diameter)*
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped
1/4 small onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
½ lb shrimp, shells and tails removed, chopped
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with cooking spray.

Wash mushrooms. Remove stems – setting them aside – and arrange 8 mushroom caps on baking sheet.

Cut off and discard the very end – any “woody part – of the mushroom stems. Finely mince the remaining lengths of stems, as well as one whole mushroom cap.

In a large frying pan, combine oil, minced mushroom, artichoke hearts, and onion. Heat, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, mushrooms soft, and any remaining moisture in the pan has been cooked off. Add garlic and chopped shrimp, continue to cook until shrimp is cooked (pink). Stir in softened cream cheese and about 1/3 each of the cheeses, mix until well combined. Season to taste with black pepper.

Generously scoop mixture into the “cup” side of each mushroom cap, allowing it to mound above the edge of the mushroom. Once all of the mixture has been divided among the mushroom caps, sprinkle tops with the remaining shredded cheeses.

Bake for 25 minutes. When done, they will be hot and have liquid forming under the mushroom caps.

Serve hot!

* Feel free to use regular button or “Baby Bella” mushrooms – for this recipe, you’d need about a lb of them… maybe a bit more! If using smaller mushrooms like this, reduce cooking time to 20 minutes.

These truffles are based on our famous Chai cake flavor. The warmth of the spices – cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg – pair fabulously with creamy milk chocolate, for a super satisfying sugar rush.

Truffles are easy to make – much easier than their retail cachet would have you think! Even a novice cook can turn these babies out, with very little effort, stress, or cost.

While chocolate chips may be a highly unusual medium for truffle making, they are easy to find, and lack the sticker shock that comes with the more traditional chocolate options. Anyone can make these truffles at home, with common ingredients, for only about $4.00/30 truffles!!

Chai Truffles

10-11 oz bag good quality milk chocolate chips
½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp instant tea powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Cocoa to roll them in

Place chocolate chips into a glass mixing bowl, and put aside.

In a small saucepan, combine heavy whipping cream, tea powder, and spices. Heat to a boil, remove from heat.

Pour hot cream mixture into bowl of chocolate chips. Let sit for 3-5 minutes. Starting in the middle of the bowl, slowly start stirring the chocolate and cream until all of the chocolate is melted and the cream has disappeared into it – it should be smooth.

Cover with plastic wrap, preferably resting right on top of the surface – this prevents a skin from forming while it cools. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour or two, until it’s pretty solid. Once solid, scoop out small amounts (a teaspoon or two), and roll them into balls. Try to handle the chocolate as quickly as possible, or it will melt.

Once all of the ganache is rolled into balls: wash and dry hands, then roll ganache centers in cocoa, or whichever other truffle coating(s) you’d like. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.