Truth be told, I never imagined spending as much time thinking about, preparing and eating rhubarb as I have over this past year. I’m not complaining. I’ve always liked rhubarb and, frankly, look with some disdain upon those whiners who say it’s too sour.

Still, it’s just rhubarb.

In a foodie world that swoons over sous vide cooking, and salted caramel macarons, and new fondant techniques, and pairing cotton candy with foie gras, rhubarb seems impossible homely.

When I was growing up, Mom most often served it as rhubarb sauce over ice cream. It was a simple dessert for a busy farm wife to prepare with ease or trust her sixth-grade daughter with the task — and everyone liked it. Why would you make something fussier?

The main variations were rhubarb pie, or rhubarb crisp, or a custardy rhubarb dessert made with a buttery pastry crust and topped with meringue. These pretty much were as far as anyone reached beyond their culinary grasp.

Yet my lot was to explore the savory side of the “pie plant,” treating it as the vegetable it technically, botanically, is.

In my day job as a reporter with the Star Tribune, I’m sort of a research junkie. A former co-worker once described his perfect newspaper job as delving into all manner of information about a topic, then going to a cocktail party and telling everyone what he knew. In this way, he would never have to actually write. Brilliant.

Little wonder, then, that a bout of procrastination set me to wondering how they say rhubarb in France. Why, I think I’d better find out. Firing up one of the various translating engines on the Internet, the answer emerged: rhubarbe, the “e” tossed on as effortlessly as an Hermes scarf.

But then, as the definition continued, there were unexpected exclamation points. interj. foutaise!; baliverne!, bétises!; pas question!, jamais!

Hmmm?

Reverse the universal translator and the meaning became clear: interj. rubbish!; piffle!, absolute twaddle and twiddle!; not question!, never!

“Absolute twaddle and twiddle!” – really? From rhubarb?

This was getting interesting.

Of course, none of this is in the book. Nor is the logic behind actors silently saying, “rhubarb watermelon, rhubarb watermelon,” in a crowd scene. Apparently, the way the mouth moves when saying these two words replicates how we look when we’re actually in conversation. Nor is there anything about Shakespeare’s reference to rhubarb in “Macbeth,” act v., scene 3.

“What Rhubarb, Cyme, or what purgative drug

Would scour these English hence?”

In short: Waiter, can I get a martini over here? And whatever they’re drinking……….

What we have here between the covers of “Rhubarb Renaissance” are recipes – 55 of them, split about evenly between savory and sweet. There are corn fritters with nuggets of rhubarb, a piquant rhubarb mostarda, shrimp wrapped in wontons with a rosemary-laced rhubarb compote and wok-fried (To. Die. For.) and a kale salad with pickled rhubarb that makes you feel (or fear) you’ll live forever.

In short, there’s more to rhubarb than making it sleep with the strawberries.

And that’s not twaddle.

Frozen Roasted Rhubarb Meringue Pie

This pie is the perfect way to end a warm summer evening, with the pure flavor of rhubarb folded into a frozen meringue. Recipe can easily be made either gluten free or not, depending on the choice of graham crackers used. Serves 6–8.

Graham Cracker Crust:

1 3/4 cups finely crushed gluten-free graham crackers (12 large crackers)
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a pie plate with cooking spray.

Stir together cracker crumbs, sugar, butter, and milk until well combined. Reserving 1 tablespoon of crumbs for garnish, press the rest into the pie plate, creating an even layer across the bottom and up the sides.

Bake for 15 minutes, then let cool on a wire rack.

Filling:

3 cups rhubarb, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp Triple Sec liqueur or orange juice
pinch salt
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place rhubarb in a shallow baking dish, such as a pie plate, and sprinkle confectioners’ sugar evenly over fruit. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring once, until rhubarb is very soft. (Late summer rhubarb may have less moisture than the first rhubarb of spring, so watch carefully, adding a tablespoon of water if it seems to be scorching before it’s soft.).

Once soft, puree roasted rhubarb in a blender with Triple Sec (or orange juice) and salt. Set aside.

Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a saucepan over which a medium bowl will fit. While the water is heating, combine egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a medium bowl. Reduce heat to keep the water at a simmer and place the bowl over the saucepan. With a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat the whites until foamy, about 3 minutes. Increase speed to high and beat until the whites begin to appear glossy, moving the beaters around the bowl, about 3 minutes more. Remove bowl from the pan and set on a counter; continue beating mixture until the meringue holds a stiff peak when the beaters are lifted.

Fold the rhubarb puree into the warm meringue, then scrape into the graham cracker crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the filling. Place in the freezer, uncovered, for an hour, then gently cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving to make slicing easier.

CREDIT: RHUBARB RENAISSANCE by Kim Ode, Minnesota Historical Society Press

Bottom line? Today’s recipe was brought on by all of the Mother’s Day ads lately, it’s a sore time of year for me, etc. To say that my family’s relationship status is “It’s Complicated” would be a gross understatement. ANYWAY. My grandmother was awesome, and this recipe was inspired by her. She used to make mushroom soup and eggs on toast for me as a kid, and I loved it. Very simple comfort food – heat up an undiluted can of cream of mushroom soup, chop up some hard boiled eggs into it, and serve it over toast. Good stuff! Well, now I’m an adult that’s allergic to gluten, so indulging in this weekend’s nostalgic craving took a little more effort.

Not a ton of effort, mind you… and the results were so good! This is not high cuisine, and it’s not the prettiest meal ever – but it sure hits the spot. While I’ve designed this recipe to be gluten free, feel free to serve it on regular toast, and/or use flour instead of cornstarch if you’re not Gluten free. Either way, hope you enjoy it!

PS: I have no idea if it’s a regional thing, or what – but no one I know seems to have ever heard of this dish. Anyone out there have any thoughts on that?

Mushroom Soup and Eggs on Toast

1 small onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 lb baby bella mushrooms, chopped and divided
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp water
salt and pepper

6-8 large hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
8 slices of bread, toasted*

In a large pan, cool onion and celery – stirring often – until vegetables are tender and onion becomes translucent. Add about 2/3 of the mushrooms, garlic, and chicken broth, bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cook until mushrooms are very soft – about 10 minutes.

Pour mushroom mixture into a blender or food processor, process til smooth. Set aside.

In the same pan, combine heavy cream with remaining mushrooms and thyme, bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until mushrooms are desired tenderness. Add pureed mushroom mixture, stir until well combined.

Whisk together corn starch and water until smooth. Add corn starch mixture to pan, stirring until very well combined. Turn heat down to low, stirring frequently until sauce thickens.

Once sauce thickens, stir in sliced eggs, season with salt and pepper to taste, remove from heat.

Place one slice of hot toast on a plate, spoon some mushroom soup mixture over it. Top with another slice of toast, and more mushroom soup. Serve immediately.

* If using gluten free bread that is super small (most of them!), you may want to allot 3 slices per serving.

Chicken Shahi Korma is my absolute favorite thing to order at our favorite Indian restaurant locally – Taste of India. I mean, to the point where I’ve never actually ordered a different entree there – I fell in love with it, and don’t tend to stray!

While we’re always in the mood for some Shahi Korma, we’re usually far less likely to be in the mood to deal with traffic, noise, and… well, people.

I’ve been meaning to unleash my only useful “Aspie Superpower” – recipe replication – on this for a while.

First, a bit of a disclaimer: If I taste something, I can usually replicate it pretty easily – in terms of end product. In doing this, I don’t tend to research the history, techniques, etc – I like to figure most of it out on my own. As a result, there’s a good chance that something in my technique and/or ingredients are way off – and that’s ok.

I just find that “flying blind” tends to facilitate a more accurate final result. In the case of ethnic cooking, I have no idea which regions have different takes on a dish, and how authentic whatever I’m trying to replicate is in the first place. Much better to just replicate what I want to replicate, tradition be damned!

Anyway… figured I’d address that, after a conversation last night. I posted that our dinner was awesome, and was asked what makes it “Shahi” Korma, from someone who had only ever had Korma.

I had no idea. Google revealed that the “Shahi” means “royal”. I looked up non-Shahi Korma, and I’m going to go ahead and guess that the addition of raisins, cashews, and paneer is what makes this particular Korma “royal”.

I may not know the language or traditions, but I do know that this meal is insanely delicious. I was going off memory from a week or so ago, so it may be slightly off – but it’s *damn* close. While I may eventually tweak it slightly – with source material nearby – I had to share this. SO good!

Chicken Shahi Korma

4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken (thighs and or/breast)
2 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
8 cloves garlic, peeled & pressed/minced
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Olive oil
4 whole cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
5 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 cup unsalted cashews
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp hot pepper flakes
2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups coconut milk* (Or heavy cream)
1 cup plain yogurt
~12 oz paneer, cubed
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2-3/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Cut chicken into large cubes, place in a large bowl.

Put ginger, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil into a blender or food processor – process till it’s a thick paste. Pour over chicken, toss to coat, and marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Grind cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods, and fennel seedswith a spice mill or mortar/pestle.

In a blender, combine freshly ground spices with cashews, chicken broth, and olive oil, process until fairly smooth. Add sugar, cinnamon, cumin, tumeric, coriander, pepper flakes Garama masala, and ground caradmom, process till combined. Set aside.

In a large pan, cook chopped onions in 1 Tbsp olive oil until tender and translucent. Add chicken and tomato paste, cook until tomato paste starts to brown and/or gets very aromatic. Add chicken broth/spice mixture, along with coconut milk/heavy cream and yogurt. Stir well, reduce heat to low, simmer for about 1 hour.

When sauce has thickened, add paneer, raisins, cashews, parsely and cilantro. Stir well, continue to cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve over rice.

* By “coconut milk”, I am referring to the thick, creamy type – NOT the watery juice type, and not “coconut creme”. This is readily available in the Asian section of major grocers, or in many ethnic grocery shops.

First and foremost, my reason for being lame with this blog: I’m in the home stretch with the final touches on “Twisted: A Minneapolis Tornado Memoir“. 1 week til it goes to print, so it’s taken up pretty much all of my time and attention lately.

Secondly, an announcement: As you may have known, I’ve constantly been asked to develop a gluten free cookbook over the past few years, and resisted for a long time – I had no interest in using the non-gluten flours, as everything I’ve ever tasted that used them was awful.

Well, after recent gluten free baking successes, including a RIDICULOUSLY great gluten free deep dish pizza recipe, I decided to go ahead and write that gluten free cookbook. AFTER I get all of my current and pending projects finished with, or about 2 years from now.

Last night, I was talked into stepping up the priority on that, so I’m happy to announce that I’ll be releasing a gluten free cookbook sometime in 2013, providing I don’t first go crazy. SO… if you have anything that you’ve been dying to see translated into a tasty gluten-free version: speak now or forever hold your peace!

I leave you with an adorable photo of our cats. Will be back in a week or so!

I really didn’t want to go flying off the gluten free wagon, especially with my health doing so well lately. I’m strong, but some temptations are too great, even for me. I know myself well, so I decided to create a gluten free version.

Sure, I’d never made a gluten free bread before this point (and this was before my recent Gluten Free Deep Dish Pizza epiphany.)… but you know, I love a challenge.

Oh lord. This was amazing. It didn’t have quite the same texture as the real deal, but the flavor was there. I slathered butter on a slice fresh out of the oven, and it was heavenly. So good, in fact, that I immediately messaged local friend Alissa, of “The Accidental Celiac, to inform her that I am a GENIUS (and so humble!), and that if she was around, I had to bring her something. There may have been some capitalized expletives and exclamation point abuse involved also.

I wrapped some still-hot goodness up, stepped away from preparing supper, and went the few short blocks to deliver it. Yep, fresh out of the oven Paska is THAT urgent… especially because having access to safe, GOOD bread when gluten free can make you sort of… feral.

Says Alissa:

“GF Paska, I dub thee “Magic Bread.” My daughter already has had 2 servings..and a part of the braid on top. It was so yummy…and the scent was heavenly. Nice and lemony…mmmmm THANKS for the surprise delivery!!!”

Anyway, the screen test ended up cancelled, but at least I got THIS out of it all. This morning I was reminded that I had not posted this recipe, though all of this went down just over a week ago!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Paska Bread
(Adapted from my Full Gluten Paska Recipe)

1/4cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2.5 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten
Juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange
Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup scalded milk, cooled
3 cups gluten free all-purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
2 cups white rice flour
1 cup potato starch

1 egg yolks
2 tsp water

Stir sugar into warm water. Sprinkle yeast on top of sugar water, gently incorporate. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes, until bubbly.

In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, continue to cream until well incorporated and fluffy once more.

Add juices, zest, and salt to the mixture, mix until combined. Add scalded milk, continue to mix until well incorporated and smooth. Add 2 cups of gluten free all purpose flour, combine well. Add yeast mixture, mix until well incorporated.

If you have a dough hook attachment for your mixer, affix it now.

Slowly add remaining flours and starch until a good, coherent bread dough comes together. It should be sticky to the touch.

Put dough into a lightly greased bowl or pot, cover top with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 1/2-2 hours.

Now here’s the fun part. Reserve about 1/3 of the dough for decorations, and divide remaining dough out among the pans you’ll be using (grease them first!). For reference, we used an 8″ round pyrex pot, and an 8″ square cake pan to bake one batch of this. Mine turned out fairly thin, next time I’ll probably use the whole amount in a 9″ round pan.

For the main body of your bread , you’ll want the dough to fill at least 1/2 of each baking pan. They’ll rise a bit more, but not like crazy. Cover loosely pans and reserved 1/3 dough loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise another 1 hour.

Once your rise time is up, use the reserved dough to make designs on the top of each loaf. Braids, twists, curls, crosses and rosettes are popular/traditional, but have fun with it. (Google can be a great source of design inspiration.) Toothpicks can be used to help secure designs in place until after baking. Cover loosely with plastic, allow to rise one last time, 30 minutes.

While your dough is rising, whisk together the remaining egg yolks and water to create an egg wash. This glaze will give your finished Paska a shiny, dark brown finish. Beautiful!

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Once final rise is finished, brush entire top of each loaf with egg wash. Bake loaves for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower the heat to 325°F and continue to bake for another 20-35 minutes, depending on how thick your bread is. (Mine took 25 minutes.

Cool Paska for 10-15 minutes (if you can handle the wait), then gently remove from pans and tranfer to a wire rack or wooden cutting board to continue cooling. Cut into one of your warm loaves, slather with butter, and … don’t plan on going anywhere for awhile. It’s easy to plow through a ton of this, and it will give you a bread coma. SO WORTH IT. Like many GF breads, this is best served warm… but that’s true with the full gluten version as well.

In closing, my husband/photographer has something to share:

“In the photography business, anything between your light and your subject is a “lighting modifier”. Turbo is a lighting modifier. Rather helpful, isn’t she?”

So, if you have to go gluten free, you KNOW how hard decent pizza is to come by. The premade store bought ones are more like a weird chewy cracker (that squeaks against the teeth!), than anything that should ever be called “pizza”. Restaurant ones aren’t much better, and cost a fortune.

What I’ve been craving lately has been Jet’s Pizza. I loved their pillowy, crispy-on-the-outside, deep dish crust. Forget the weird gluten free cracker crusts, I wanted something bready and yeasty and awesome.

I finally made the final crossover to the dark side. I was flirting with it for a bit there, playing with some pre mixed “all purpose” gluten free flours… now, I’m .. Darth Vader. YES! (Or just really high on the fact that I Just. Ate. Pizza.)

If you hadn’t guessed, I developed a proper gluten free pizza crust today. (Well, yesterday by the time I post this!). I abandoned the premixed all purpose flour in favor of looking at the individual properties/ flavors of various gluten free flours, and …daaamn. It looks AND tastes like the real deal. I mean, to the point where hubby pointed out that it’s better than most normal frozen pizzas, and a lot of lower-end, full gluten restaurant pizzas. It’s doughy and yeasty, not a cracker. Soft on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside… it browned well, didn’t squeak against the teeth, and you could pick up a slice and eat it. It held up well, and had no weird mouthfeel OR aftertaste. If you’ve ever had to suffer through gluten free pizza dough before.. then you know why I am REALLY excited right now!

Not sure what else to say, partially because I’m super giddy. The use of oat flour was a bit of brilliance, if I do say so myself… it really gives it a hearty, bready taste. The crust has a “rustic” sort of taste to it – more earthy (nutty?) than a plain white crust, but not quite to the point of a whole wheat crust flavor. Might just be my greatest accomplishment to date…

Oh, it was good. I hope you enjoy this as much as I am!

* To be fair, I DID just create a gluten free pizza crust that looks, tastes, and feels like the real thing, so… really, there should be a Nobel with my name on it, right?

Gluten Free Deep Dish Pizza

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups brown rice flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup potato starch
3 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 cup olive oil
Extra olive oil

Sauce
Toppings
Cheese

Add honey and salt to warm water, stir till well blended. Add yeast and stir again. Allow to sit (somewhere warm!) for 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flours, starches, and xanthan gum. Add olive oil, mixing until evenly distributed. Add yeast mixture, mix well. Dough should ball up a bit, but be a bit sticky.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 12″ round pizza pan (or, what we used – a 9 x 13″ baking pan). Press the dough evenly throughout the bottom pan, with a bit pushed up around the sides as an outer crust. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 500F

Using a pastry brush, spread a very thin coat of olive oil over the entire top side of the crust. Bake for 5 minutes.

Remove crust from the oven. Spread sauce over prepared pizza crust. Scatter toppings across the pizza, top with shredded cheese. Bake for another 15 minutes.

As pictured, we used:

~ 1/2 cup of gluten free BBQ sauce
2 chicken breasts, sliced and sauteed
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1/4 small onion, sliced
~ 1 cup Italian cheese mix
~ 1 cup shredded cheddar

I love Irish Stew. When done properly, it’s such a simple dish, but with a lot of good, “clean” flavor. It’s a hearty meal that really lets the individual flavors take the spotlight: Perfectly cooked carrots and parsnips, at just the right level of tenderness… fresh parsley, good meat. Yum! As Irish stew may be, well, Irish, there’s nothing “round” about it, aside from the bowl it’s served in. I decided I’d create a meatball, themed around the flavors of Irish stew. Oh, these were fabulous… and pretty much flew out of the crock pot they were served from! The carrots, parsnips, and parsley added a ton of flavor to the meatballs, the texture was great, and it all came together perfectly.

While these were specifically designed to be gluten free (though you’d NEVER know it, to taste them!), feel free to substitute “normal” crackers and flour, if gluten isn’t a concern.

Enjoy!

Irish Stew Meatballs Recipe

1 carrot
1 parsnip
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 eggs
2/3 cup finely crushed gluten free crackers (I used Schar)
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups beef broth
2 Tbsp+ potato starch
1/4 cup fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Grate carrot, parsnip, and onion (I love my food processor!), place in a nonstick pan. Heat over medium, stirring frequently, until vegetables start to “sweat” out their moisture. Add garlic, continue to cook until liquid disappears. Remove from heat, transfer to a mixing bowl to cool slightly.

Once vegetables are cool enough to handle, add beef, pork, parsley, eggs, cracker crumbs, potato starch, pepper, and salt. Using your (clean!) hands, gently mix everything together until it’s all well incorporated into the mix. Be gentle- you want to just mix, not squeeze and compress it much!

Shape meat mixture into meatballs – about 1 1/2″ in diameter. You’ll end up with about 62 meatballs.

Heat vegetable oil in a large pan. Once hot, brown meatballs a few at a time, turning every so often to ensure even browning. Transfer browned meatballs to a plate as you finish each batch.

In a large pot, whisk together beef broth and potato starch until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add parsley, salt, and pepper, continue to cook – whisking frequently – until thickened. Add meatballs, continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

If making these for a party, you can cook the gravy in a smaller pot. Add the browned meatballs to a crock pot, pour the thickened gravy over top, and heat for at least 30 minutes on high before serving. Turn heat down to low or “Warm” while serving.

You see, the plan has always been that once we have a functioning kitchen again, I’d go back on the paleo diet. I’d be feeling great, and losing a bunch of weight. I’ve been looking forward to this for a very, very long time. This is week one!

Of course, that means that a week or so before the start date, I’d realize that YES! I can make gluten free stuff that is awesome, not awful, and that even people not cursed with gluten allergic can love. (The Gluten Free Chai Doughnut Holes were amazing, for instance) You see, none of those fake ^H^H^H^H alternative flours are acceptable on the paleo diet! AUGH! MURPHY! WTF?!

Anyway. Yeah.

So… I’ll work around it. I’ve finally succumbed to the (hundreds of!) suggestions that I write a gluten free cookbook. I’ll pick away at it and make liberal use of human guinea pigs, both of the regular and gluten free varieties. I mean, hell.. I wrote both The Spirited Baker and Evil Cake Overlord while serving my gluten free sentence! Also, a bite or two of non-paleo food here and there won’t totally screw me up, the way a bite or two of gluten would!

In the meantime, check out my recipe for gluten free jalapeno poppers!

The thing with an impending diet start date is that it brings on severe cravings for food that is very much NOT diet food. With the jalapeno poppers, I decided that if I’m going to design a gluten free recipe, I may as well start from the ground up and completely customize the poppers. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of deep fried foods, so I decided to make them a baked variety. From there, I looked at the various other ways I’d make jalapeno poppers more “my” style. I prefer softer peppers, so I blanched them before stuffing them. I love jalapenos with tequila, lime juice, and cilantro… so I incorporated those flavors. (For non-alcoholic poppers, substitute milk in the egg mixture). I chose to mix Colby and Jack cheeses as the perfect compliment t rthe rest of the flavors…

Oh, it was goooood. Even my husband – who has no issues with gluten – happily snarfed a plateful of these.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Jalapeno Poppers

8 large jalapenos
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Colby cheese
2 Tbsp finely minced cilantro
3 eggs
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp tequila
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 cup white rice flour (Or whatever GF flour mix you like)
1+ cups gluten free crumbs*
1/2 tsp cumin (more if you’d like)

Preheat oven to 375F

Slice each jalapeno in half, lengthwise – I recommend wearing gloves for working with the peppers. Use a small spoon to scoop out the seeds and as much of the membrane as you’d like – jalapeno heat is concentrated in the white membrane. Scrape out most/all if you’d like a mild popper, less if you’d like some kick.

Personally, my husband and I like softer peppers in our poppers, so I like to blanch them. Place the peppers in a small pan or pot, add 2 cups of liquid (all water, chicken broth for a bit of flavor, or go crazy – 1 cup water, 1 cup tequila, and a squeeze of lime juice!), bring to a boil. Cook to desired softness. Strain, run under cold water, pat dry with paper towels. For a crisper popper, skip this blanching.

To make the filling, combine softened cream cheese, Monterey Jack, Colby, and cilantro. Cream together until smooth and well combined, set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, lime juice, tequila, and cayenne. Set aside

Measure flour into a separate bowl, set aside.

In a final bowl, combine crumbs and cumin. Set aside.

Divide filling between jalapeno halves. I rolled each portion of filling into a compressed ball, then pressed it into a pepper half, pressing to distribute.

Dredge each jalapeno in the flour, then into the egg mixture, and finally into the crumbs. Arrange peppers – filling side up – onto a prepared baking sheet. (I lined mine with parchment).

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until filling is bubbly and crumb coating is crispy and golden brown.

Serve hot, with ranch dressing to dip them in, if desired.

* For bread crumbs, I put Schar gluten free crackers in a large baggie and crushed them with a rolling pin. Feel free to use crushed GF Chex, premade GF bread crumbs, or any combination you feel like. Half crackers, half Rice Chex would have been great, for instance!

As an Irish Canadian, I’ve eaten my fair share of Shepherd’s (Cottage, to be more accurate) Pie. As a chef, I’ve tinkered with the recipe many, many times. I’ve done a “Thanksgiving Leftovers” version. I’ve made a cottage pie with moose meat, partridgeberries, and wine. Boeuf bourguignon hybrid pie, cottage pie with caribou meat… yeah, you could call me a connoisseur!

So, when I say that this is the best ever – know that there’s a lot of experience behind the claim!

First, a quick distinction: The vast majority of what people call “Shepherd’s Pie” is actually “Cottage Pie”. Cottage pie that uses lamb for the meat is “shepherd’s pie”. Sheep, shepherd… you know. This recipe was developed to be a shepherd’s pie, but was changed to a cottage pie at the last minute. After a morning of shopping for ingredients, I chose convenience over nomenclature

Anyway, that little bit of pedantry aside…

I created this cottage pie for our recent “St Pi-trick’s Day” party. As every food had to be Irish themed and round, I sized this recipe around a 12″ round cake pan, big enough to serve our party. Should you want to be a bit more traditional with it, and make it up in two 9 x 13″ pans.

In keeping with the Irish theme, I didn’t make this “American Style” – you’ll notice there is no creamed corn, and no cheese. Instead of the more common choices of corn and frozen peas, I decided to go more “Irish Canadian” with it, using carrots, parsnips, and turnips – a very popular set of veggies on the East Coast of Canada, which is heavily Irish. For many/most people out that way, those root vegetables are served at least weekly, as part of “Sunday Dinner” – very traditional. If you have a food processor with a grating attachment, getting these veggies ready will be a snap. If you have to grate them by hand – trust me, it’s worth the effort in the end!

As an additional nod to the Irish-Canadianness of it, you’ll notice the use of savory. Savoury, as we spell it back home, is an extremely popular herb in east coast Canadian kitchens… for good reason. The savoury that grows in the hills of Newfoundland is the best savory I’ve ever had. It’s commonly used in soups, on poultry, in stuffing/dressing, on pork… yum. If you’re a foodie and have a chance to get your hands on some Mt. Scio brand savoury… send me some, too! While shepherd’s pie really isn’t anything elegant to look at, no matter what the ingredients, this one has an elegant taste to it. The use of the root vegetables in combination with these seasonings provides an awesome merge of flavors… truly, I think I’ve come up with the ideal cottage pie here! Enjoy!

Cottage Pie Recipe / Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

4 lbs russet potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground pork
1 lb lean ground beef (Substitute ground lamb for true “Shepherd’s Pie”)
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 parsnips, peeled and grated
1 small turnip, peeled and grated
1 medium onion, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, minced, finely grated, or pressed
1 ½ cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp salt
1 tsp rosemary
½ tsp savory
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 ½ cups sour cream
1 – 1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Peel potatoes if you have to (I don’t!), chop into 2″ chunks. Boil in a large pot of water until tender.

While potatoes are boiling, combine oil, ground pork, ground beef, grated veggies, and garlic in a large pan. Cook on medium high heat, stirring and breaking up meat chunks frequently.

Once meat is cooked through and veggies are tender, whisk together chicken broth and corn starch until smooth. Pour over meat and veg mixture, season with pepper, salt, rosemary, savory, and parsley. Stir until well combined and broth mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat.

Once potatoes are tender, drain and transfer to a large bowl – I like to use my stand mixer. Mash/whip for 30 seconds or so, until potatoes have broken down a bit. Add butter, chicken broth, and sour cream, continue to beat until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat broiler to high.

Transfer meat mixture to pan(s) – I used a 12″ round cake pan, 2″ tall. (Two 9 x 13″ pans would also work!) Spread potato mixture evenly over the meat mixture, broil until potatoes are as browned as you would like them.

Serve immediately, or cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap, and chill.

I had no idea that there was such a thing as World Home Economics Day. Not that it surprises me or anything, I just hadn’t given it much thought. As I read Mairlyn’s blog entry, all sorts of warm, fuzzy memories about Home Ec class came flooding back.

Now, as I’d mentioned before… for the most part, my school life was an utter nightmare. During Jr High – the Home Ec years … well, those were the worst years of my school career. Pretty sure I managed to be harassed and bullied by every degenerate in the Fort Garry School Division – it wasn’t fun.

Home Ec day was my favorite day of the week, and I’m pretty sure the only thing that kept me sane. Once a week, we would all spend the afternoon at the nearby high school, which had an entire wing for Home Ec and Shop. I LOVED it! I loved learning all kinds of new skills – silk screening, wood working, etc – as well as “honing” existing skills.

When it came to cooking and sewing, I wasn’t so much honing, as spending a pleasant afternoon doing easy busy-work. By Jr High, I was already making a nice bit of change making custom skating dresses, so… well, “learning” how to make draw string gym bags or boxer shorts were… well, a bit of a vacation! It was fun though!

You may not know this, but I once actually got a failing mark in 9th grade Home Ec – Sewing. The teacher really disliked me, and it showed. She had a problem with the fact that the students would be asking me for help, before her… even though I did NOTHING to encourage it. She got her “revenge” on me eventually, though.

We were allowed to pick our own projects. I’d already made my grad dress, and wanted a project that would keep me occupied a bit longer. I designed and made a skating dress, for an upcoming dance test. It was gorgeous – The under layer was purple, with a sweetheart neckline and deep dip in the back. The whole thing was overlaid with black stretch lace – shoulders and sleeves also – and then hand beaded on top of the overlay, along the edge of where the purple ended, underneath. We’re talking.. Probably 3″ band of sequins, bugle beads, and seed beads. I was super excited, because it was a dance specific dress, with a bit of a “tail”… I loved it. It turned out perfectly.

Unfortunately, it picked up a bit of a cigarette odor, as my grandparents (who I lived with) were smokers. So.. She failed me for that. UGH.

Anyway, whatever – I went on to a year in fashion school, and a pretty successful career in the fashion industry. I digress!

While the sewing part of Home Ec was a little bit of a (usually pleasant!) snoozefest for me, I really did enjoy cooking class. While I was already quite proficient at cooking and baking, the cooking class tended to cover areas that I hadn’t yet experimented with… my favorite being Indian cooking. I still remember those homemade Rotis… SO good!

In Mairlyn’s post, she mentions that Home Ec is no longer mandatory! So.. Here comes the rant.

I’m 32 years old, and I’m constantly surprised at the number of my friends – people my age, younger, older, whatever – who never learned how to cook. Where do I even start with this?

As a society, we are becoming less and less healthy. As people move away from learning the basic skills in the kitchen, and more and more to complete reliance on convenience foods, is this any surprise at all?

Being able to cook is a basic life skill that everyone should possess. Everyone learns the basics of self care, and you’re considered an outsider if you don’t learn to drive at a very young age. Why should it be so common to not know the basics in the kitchen? In my view, it’s far more important – and far reaching! – a skill than driving. Nothing drove this point home for us more clearly than losing our kitchen.

1. Being able to cook saves you money. A LOT of it, too. I’m still aghast at how much money we hemorrhaged after the tornado, just in having to eat out. Not having a kitchen crippled us financially, even though we were very, very thrifty.

2. Cooking for yourself can be SO much healthier. Living on prepared foods for that long was a serious downer. It was enough to be dealing with tornado repairs alone, but eating out constantly really left us feeling just… gross. Restaurants will do some crazy stuff to make their food good.. Or in the case of fast food, at all palatable. We you cook at home, you’re far more conscious of what’s actually going into what you’re eating.

3. It’s more convenient. Whether it’s grabbing the ingredients from your fridge and whipping something up, or reheating leftovers of what you made the night before, it’s a LOT quicker and easier than driving to a restaurant, dealing with parking, waiting for your order, etc. Bonus: You don’t have to deal with obnoxious idiots at the next table!

4. Being able to cook gives you a flexibility you will never, ever get from restaurants and prepared food products. This is something that I’m even more keenly aware of, since developing a gluten allergy.

It is stunning, just how many products have gluten it in. (Or corn, or soy, or dairy…) When you’re without a kitchen – or without cooking skills! – your options are extremely limited. In the case of quick take out options… let’s just say that I ate FAR more Wendy’s “sour cream and chive baked potatoes” this summer than anyone should consume in a lifetime!

When you learn basic cooking skills, your options open up wildly. Craving something that’s normally not in your acceptable foods list? You can figure out how to make a modified version! Even beyond actual allergies, you can make and adapt any dish to your own personal tastes.

I’ll be honest, I’m a bit worried for future generations. I already see some skills dying out over time. How many people learn to bake bread as a kid now? I mean – gasp – without a pre measured mix and a bread machine?

While I’m glad to see that certain skills are becoming “trendy” among foodies – canning, for instance – … I just think there needs to be far more of a focus on teaching these skills to the children of today. Teach them to reach for fresh ingredients, rather than phoning for pizza delivery.

Teach them not only about how to cook ingredients, but what’s out there, and what makes them awesome. That 9th grade Roti class was the first exposure I had to Indian food, and it fueled a LOVE for the style, those spices… How long would I have missed out on that joy, had it not been for that class?

Seriously, the way that the subject of vegetables is handled on TV makes me sad. They’re the butt of jokes, demonized… it’s constant, subtle brainwashing. Kids aren’t born hating vegetables, they’re conditioned to. Don’t get me started on that Chef Boyardee commercial with the mom RAMMING AND KNOCKING OVER A DISPLAY (!!!), so that her precious kid won’t hear that there are – gasp! – vegetables in there.

What message is that sending?

As a kid, I loved Brussels sprouts and asparagus – they were my absolute favorites. Would I be able to say the same, if I were to have grown up in today’s anti-vegetable media environment? Probably not. Again… I’d be missing out. These kids today? THEY are missing out.

I could ramble on for far too long, and I’ve probably gotten off on way more of a tangent than I should have. The thing is… it’s all connected. North America, in particular, has a very broken relationship with food. How much of this would be remedied by making Home Ec a required subject?

Probably a LOT. What are your thoughts on the matter?