Hello readers,
Now that summer is winding down, I’ll be back with more fabulous dishes.
Last month was very busy, which is why you didn’t hear from me. But it’s good to be back, starting with tonight’s dinner.
I chucked a couple tialpia filets in the oven at 350-degrees. I’m going to top it with Rudy’s Sissy Sauce, a great Texas barbecue we got as a gift from friends. I called Rudy’s and they confirmed it’s g-free. Check them out at www.rudys.com.
We were at Jewel recently and picked up a new g-free pizza crust to try. It’s made in Italy and sold by a company called Schar, which claims to be Europe’s No. 1 gluten-free brand.
The package had two crusts individually packed and they didn’t need to be frozen like the Glutino crusts we usually use.
The pizza I made earned rave reviews from Amy because the crust was thicker and chewier and tasted more like traditional pizza dough.
You can find out more about the company here: www.schar.com
Need to eat quick in the morning? I’ve got a healthy, hearty, 5-minute recipe for you and the best part is that all you need is a microwave.
First, toast two pieces of your favorite g-free bread.
While it’s toasting, cook two eggs in the microwave. Here’s how: Coat two ramekins with cooking spray or butter. Crack one egg in each, piercing each yolk a few times with a toothpick so they won’t explode. Cover with plastic wrap and cook in the microwave for 1 minute. This should leave you with solid whites and a runny center.
After your bread is toasted, pile on a piece of your favorite cheese and pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt.
Top the cheesy bread with slices of fresh tomato and plop an egg on each piece for an open-face sandwich. Enjoy.
This sandwich can only be made better by adding a lean piece of Canadian bacon. We didn’t have any on hand this morning, but we will for next time.
I grabbed a bunch of basil at the farmers market this week because I needed it for a caprese salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil and olive oil) that I was taking to a concert in the park.
I only needed 12 leaves, so I had a bunch of basil left over. We don’t eat much pesto in our house because years ago Amy had a bad experience with a batch she really didn’t like.
But Amy is a great food guinea pig and was willing to try it again because I didn’t want the basil to go to waste. To further entice her, I mixed the pesto with rice, one of Amy’s favorite foods.
I kept my pesto simple and didn’t include garlic because Amy doesn’t like the raw taste and I didn’t want to push my luck.
Here’s how I made it, whizzing it all together in the food processor.
_3 cups basil leaves
_1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
_2 tbsps olive oil
_1 tsp dry roasted almonds
_pinch of salt
Voila, pesto. The best part, Amy really liked it.
I served our pesto rice with pan-fried Pacific rockfish filets garnished with freshly shelled peas from the market. We had an easy vegetable of sliced, boiled carrots on the side.
Summertime in Chicago means outdoor street festivals and with a little advance work you can find some great g-free treats at the fests.
We ventured to the 30th annual Taste of Chicago on Friday night, the festival’s opening night of a 10-day run, and encountered a smorgasbord of some of the city’s best restaurants. Many of the offerings were off-limits — pizza, fried eggrolls, pastries and fried catfish. But I had checked out a couple food stands in advance and struck gold: g-free fare.
Armed with our advance knowledge, we ordered with confidence and an appetite at Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs and Las Tablas Colombian Steakhouse. Other places also offered g-free chow – the Adobo Grill is always reliable — but we wanted to check out places that we were new to us or, in the case of Las Tablas, we hadn’t visited since Amy’s celiac diagnosis.
I called ahead to two Robinson’s locations to make sure their tangy, spicy sauce was g-free. Both locations assured me it was, all we had to do was order the ribs without bread. I didn’t understand the bread comment until we got there and saw that the succuluent rib tips are served over bread so you can sop up the sauce. We told them to hold the bread and chowed down on six generous rib tips that, though somewhat fatty by nature, melted in your mouth and had very few bones. The ribs cost 12 ticksts. A strip of 12 tickets costs $8. 
Next, we hit Las Tablas Colombian Steakhouse. I had also called ahead and knew that the empanadas, which are made with cornmeal, would be OK and so would the skirt steak or chicken with plantains. We got the steak and an empanada combo. The steak cost 12 tickets and the empanadas (three of them, also with plantains) were 10 tickets. 
We don’t eat a lot of deep-friend food since we’re g-free, so the empanadas were a nice treat. The Latin American meat pies were slightly greasy, but the fried pockets were especially a treat for Amy. The three fillings were yummy - cheese, chicken and a spicy pork mixture. We’re going back for more.
The steak was the juciest, most tender skirt steak we have ever had. We can’t wait to make a visit to the restaurant and have a proper meal.
For dessert, we chowed down on two chocolate strawberries from the Dominicks grocery store booth. While not the best chocolate we have ever had, it was just sweet enough to be a satisfying end to a great meal.
We are going to try to head back to the Taste one more time, so I will let you know what else I find.
A recent trip to the farmers market earned me all the ingredients we needed for a tasty breakfast.
A dozen eggs, fresh spinach, heirloom tomatoes and small-batch muenster cheese made for yummy omelettes.
I love farmers markets. I go every Saturday and always try to pick up a new ingredient to use. Watch the blog to see what I find in the coming weeks.
The chicken cacciatore was a smashing success. The chicken was succulent and the sauce was heavenly.
I also jazzed up the polenta. I added a few shakes of crushed red pepper to give it some zing and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese. Don’t forget to salt and pepper to taste.
I made four servings of polenta (a fancy word for yellow corn grits) because we’re having leftovers for lunch. I also saved the rest of the sauce for pasta later this week.
One more thing I wanted to mention: I had a cup of garbanzo beans hanging around in the refrigerator so I threw them in the cacciatore. Wanted to let you know in case you wondered what they were in the pciture.
Hope you try out the dish.
Summer finally showed up in Chicago today, so Amy and I joined the masses and headed to a downtown park to picnic for lunch and read our books.
We threw together a g-free picnic lunch with no muss or fuss.
Here’s the menu: fresh mozzarrella cheese, g-free turkey breast, Nut Thins pecan crackers, strawberries and carrots.
It was a great way to welcome summer.
I grew up eating chicken cacciatore but haven’t had it in ages. I decided to try to recreate the recipe with two bone-in chicken breasts (2lbs worth) I defrosted for dinner.
The only problem: I didn’t have any canned tomatoes in the house. No worries. I had a jar of our favorite Trader Joe’s g-free marinara sauce. I simply diluted it with 1 cup of red wine and 1 cup of water.
I started the dish by sauteing 4 garlic cloves, 1 chopped onion and 1 package of sliced mushrooms in olive oil. 
Then, in went 1 cup of frozen peas and the two chicken breasts (skin removed) that I split into four pieces. Next went the sauce, wine and water.
It’s on the stove simmering now. I’m going to let it cook for an hour.
I’ll serve it over polenta with a side of steamed asparagus.
I’ll share a picture of the finished dish when it’s ready.
When I got a great deal on pork roasts at the store a few months back, I split them in half and froze them. I had a 1.5-pound piece left and I grabbed it out of the freezer for dinner tonight.
I wasn’t in the mood for a roast so I jazzed it up by turning it into pork tacos. I added zing to the meal with some homemade guacamole. We also devoured aspargus we bought at the farmers market over the weekend.
I prepared the pork by thinly slicing it and sauteing it with half of a sliced yellow onion and half a package of mushrooms. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin, chipotle powder and a splash of apple cider vinegar to add tartness.
While the pork cooked, I made guacamole with an avocado, a tomato and a shallot. I didn’t have a jalapeno pepper on hand so I added heat with chipotle powder and some tartness with a splash of lemon juice and cider vinegar.
The guacamole paired nicely with the pork atop corn tortillas. I spread the guacamole on the tortillas first so we got to enjoy it with every bite.
It was an amazingly fast meal. I hope you’ll try it.