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March 17, 2013

Shepherd’s Pie with Cauliflower

Posted by ladybug under baked, casserole, cauliflower, cheese, eggs, garlic, onion, Silver Spring Kitchen, vegetables, wheat free
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shepherds pie whole

Last year for St. Patrick’s Day I made the traditional American St. Patrick’s Day meal with corned beef. That is all well and good, but not the only Americanized Irish food available. The Shepherd’s Pie is another dish that actually has Irish roots much closer than the corned beef. Here is a version that is very Americanized, or more accurately low carb-ized, for it has not a speck of potato, but as with other manipulations that can be done with cauliflower, you might not miss the ‘taters. This dish is usually called cottage pie when beef is used, and Shepherd’s Pie when lamb is used. I used ground lamb, so I at least kept to some traditional aspects, even if the top is from a cauliflower patch! If I did not tell you, you would never have known. I got the idea for the topping here. I hope for you fun and festivities on this St. Patrick’s Day, and eat cauliflower!shepherds pie piece

Shepherd’s Pie

For the Stew

2 Tbsp butter
1 pound stew beef or lamb, ground or cut into small bite-sized pieces
½ – 1 cup red wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped carrots
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn

For the Topping
1 medium head of cauliflower
2 Tbsp heavy cream
2 Tbsp butter
½ cup plus 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 egg whites
Salt & pepper to taste

Clean and trim cauliflower, adding florets to a microwave safe bowl with ¼ cup water. Cover with cling wrap or a vented cover and microwave for 5 – 8 minutes until soft. Drain water. Add the cream and butter to the bowl and toss until butter is melted. Add the cauliflower and ½ cup of cheese to a food processor or use a hand blender to process until the mixture is a smooth consistency. It should look like thick mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet over medium high heat melt the butter, then add the meat. Saute until browned, about five minutes. If an overwhelming amount of liquid is in the meat, partially drain and continue cooking. Add red wine and cook until sauce bubbles. Add tomato paste, garlic and Worcestershire sauce, stirring until blended. Add onion, corn and peas. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. Turn off heat and set aside while you finish the topping.

Right before putting the cauliflower on top of the meat filling, whip the egg whites to a stiff peak. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the cauliflower mixture to lighten it up. Then fold the remaining egg whites into the cauliflower mixture and gently mix until combined. In a 9×13 baking dish add the stew and spread until even. Gently top with cauliflower topping, spreading it evenly and not pressing down too far. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese over the top. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until topping is puffed and cheese is browning slightly. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Sprinkle more Worcestershire Sauce on individual servings if needed.
 

January 28, 2013

Texan Macaroni and Cheese

Posted by ladybug under baked, casserole, cheese, Silver Spring Kitchen, tomato, wheat free
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texan mac and cheese_edited-1

I am evil. Really evil. I had a craving for one of my dishes of yore and just had to make it. I include here the evil and less evil versions of the recipe. A few years ago I had this idea to play around with food and enter cooking contests. The hankering did not last long and I never won anything, but experimenting with one particular dish holds some sweet memories for me. I have always liked macaroni and cheese, but am often disappointed in the lack Of flavor in some versions. I like sharp cheeses and some punch in the flavors soaked up by the pasta. Growing up we would have the Kraft version on Fridays in lent. It did not feel like much of the meatless sacrifice it may have been intended, although it was a variation on the protein rich meals we usually ate. When I decided to join a macaroni and cheese recipe contest I was determined to have it taste the way I loved. At the time my brother and I happened to be visiting my parents. We spent a crazy late night making at least three batches of the stuff, working to make sure the cheese sauce was smooth and the final baked results were not dry, but also not runny. We had a lot of fun, caught up on each others lives and finished off the leftover beer, among other things. I don’t get to spend much time with my brother these days, so it was a treat to share the kitchen with him. It was a marathon cooking and picture fest, which I hope did not keep our mom up too late. She probably enjoyed lying awake laughing at our conversations. I never asked. Here is the original, non-award winning recipe and a lower carbohydrate, wheat free version. They both work, but the non-wheat pasta version results in an extra nutty flavor from the quinoa, I think. Overall, the combined flavors of Mexican beer, cheese and the tomato/chilies remind me of the south Texas foods I grew up with. Totally appeased my comfort food hankerings and brought back great memories.

Texan Macaroni and Cheese

Wheat Version

1 pound elbow pasta
1 can tomatoes and green chilies
1 1/2 lb Sharp or Medium Cheddar Cheese, grated
5 oz goat cheese
12 oz Mexican beer (suggest Negro Modelo)
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp sea salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp butter (for baking dish)
1/2 lb Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Cook pasta per package instructions for al dente and rinse with cold water. Drain well. Heat medium pot over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and chilies, beer, goat cheese, cream of celery soup, salt and cumin. Stir until blended and heated through. Turn heat to medium-low. Gradually add Cheddar cheese, stirring occasionally until cheese is melted. Remove pot from heat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add pasta to cheese mixture and combine until pasta is well coated. In separate bowl mix together cream and eggs until eggs are well beaten. Gradually fold cream/egg mixture into pasta until thoroughly combined. Butter 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour pasta mixture into dish. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes in preheated oven. Remove dish from oven and sprinkle Monterrey Jack cheese over pasta, followed by sprinkling paprika, then tortilla chips (optional). Bake for an additional 18 – 20 minutes until the top cheese is bubbly and browning. Remove from oven and let rest for ten minutes before serving.

Non Wheat Version

1 pound wheat free elbow pasta (suggest quinoa version)
1 can tomatoes and green chilies
1 1/2 pounds Sharp or Medium Cheddar Cheese, grated
5 oz goat cheese
12 oz Mexican beer (suggest Negro Modelo)
¾ cups heavy cream
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 Tbsp arrowroot flour
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp butter (for baking dish)
1/2 lb Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated
1 tsp paprika

The instructions of the recipe are the same except for one extra step. There are ingredients substituting the cream of celery soup that need to be added when the sauce is hot. Before turning off the heat and adding cheddar cheese to the sauce, add ¾ cup cream, broth, butter, arrowroot flour, salt and pepper. Using a whisk stir until the sauce is smooth. Continue with the recipe directions.
 

November 26, 2012

Soupless Green Bean Casserole

Posted by ladybug under baked, beans, casserole, coconut flour, onion, side dish, Silver Spring Kitchen, soup, vegetables, wheat free
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I like holiday meals. Partly because of all the lovely foods we don’t make during other times of the year, but also because the meals often require cooking all day. Darn. Heh. We like spending time in the kitchen. Besides keeping us close to the alcoholic beverage supplies, it is a place where we have great conversation and create or try new things. This is a good thing, in my opinion. Besides a huge bird, or a massive ham, I always look forward to green bean casserole. There is something about the beans and the creamy sauce and the occasional mushroom bits all swirled together in a single bite. This version of the casserole does not include the crunchy fried onions, because of the wheaty carbiness of them, but it still turned out to appease my comfort food craving for the soupy, crunch version. I don’t know how well this would work with whole fresh beans, but with the canned french style the sauce coated every bit very well and the richness I love so much was able to shine through. I am not partial to all the extra stuff they put in canned soups, as I have ranted about before, so I am always glad to figure out versions of comfort foods I enjoy with out the canned stuff. Big D got a little perturbed at how much I liked the green bean casserole over the flaxseed dressing, which was pretty good. His holiday comfort food goes back to his grandmother’s dressing, filled with biscuits, cornbread, apples and sage. I don’t know that he ever gave green bean casserole a second though before we got together. What can I say, I am a green bean casserole girl. Have I mentioned I like green bean casserole. That last one was for Big D.

Soupless Green Bean Casserole

2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 cups mushrooms, diced
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
3 cans green beans, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, erythritol, onion, Worcestershire sauce and sour cream. Add mushrooms. Cook mixture until mushrooms sweat and liquid reduces by about 50%. Add green beans, and stir to coat and heat. Transfer the mixture to a 9×9 casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.
 

August 31, 2012

Zucchini Lasagna

Posted by ladybug under baked, casserole, cheese, sausage, Silver Spring Kitchen, squash, tomato, vegetables, wheat free
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Here is another low carb dish! We are really enjoying the increased level of energy we are experiencing with our current diet, which includes avoiding grains, sugars and processed foods. I am not a die hard fan of most pasta dishes, but I am a lasagna lover. When we traveled in Italy eight years ago I was all about the meat, fish and vegetables – the pasta was, surprisingly to me, not my go to dish while there. Probably because I was corrupted by American knock offs, or because I did not go to Northern Italy, where there is supposedly ‘better’ pasta. I do not really feel like I missed out. Especially in Rome there were almost as many places to get a skewer of roasted meat as there were pizza slices. Go figure. The time we spent renting a villa in Tuscany was sprinkled with visits to the local co-op for freshly butchered meat and freshly picked produce. The cheeses and cured meats were quite an experience, too. Of course, the evil alcoholic concoction we came up with while relaxing the nights away made the eating at the villa a pleasant blur. We would take Coca Cola light (the Italian version of diet Coke) and mix it with some quite horrible tasting Grappa. We did find what I consider very good Grappa before we left, but that first bottle was nasty. Not to waste alcohol, we combined it with the soda and boom! We dubbed our creation Crappa. We got schnockered and did some skinny dipping in the pool. To make a long story short, and totally disconnected to our libation, this recipe takes care of my lasagna craving while keeping me away from the processed carbs found in pasta

Zucchini Lasagna

2 large, narrow zucchini
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 tsp dried parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Splenda or ¼ tsp sugar
12-15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 ½ pounds ground Italian sausage, broken up and cooked thoroughly
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. In small sauce pan combine the diced tomatoes, paste, oregano, parsley, onion powder, salt and Splenda or sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, turn down flame and simmer for about 15 minutes, then remove from flame and let sit. While it is cooking prepare the rest of the dish. In a medium bowl mix the ricotta cheese, spinach and nutmeg and set aside – trust me – it sounds odd, but the nutmeg enhances the ricotta flavor. Slice ends off of zucchini. With a vegetable peeler peel off long strips of zucchini. If you don’t have a peeler, instead make zucchini coins as thin as you can with a knife. To build the lasagna begin with a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Add a layer of zucchini strips/coins overlapping generously to make a solid layer, followed by the ricotta mixture, sauce, mushrooms, sausage and 1 cup of mozzarella. Repeat the layers again. Top with a third layer of zucchini and the last of the mozzarella. Bake lasagna until heated through and cheese on top begins to brown, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about ten minutes, allowing the lasagna to set.
 

July 1, 2012

Squash Pizza

Posted by ladybug under baked, casserole, cheese, garlic, pizza, Silver Spring Kitchen, squash, vegetables, wheat free
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We love pizza and we love squash, especially spaghetti squash. It is not processed like store bought pasta or the flour used in most pizza crusts. Don’t get me wrong – I love pasta and pizza crust and pretty much any bread I encounter, but it never seems to leave after I eat it. I might as well just glue it on to my hips and butt instead of biting into it, because that seems to be where it goes. Not so with spaghetti squash. It is pretty darned good for you, as I have mentioned before, and is a great way to take care of those pizza cravings, because the wheaty crust of the traditional pizza is just not gonna work with our diet strategy. We have officially thrown up our hands and now make a casserole version of pizza. Yes you need a fork to eat it, but is it really a great loss? Not when it helps me keep my weight down. I am not saying this recipe will help you lose weight, but if you are watching your carbohydrate intake like me, there is nothing better for battling pizza advertisements. The squash does a wonderful job of helping the herbs mix and spread their joy, and thick sliced pepperoni is just heaven to me on a pizza. Omigosh is it good!

Squash Pizza

1 spaghetti squash
8-12 ounces pepperoni, sliced thick
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups Italian mix cheese (romano, mozzarella, parmesan…)
2 cups roughly chopped mushrooms (or 8 ounces canned mushrooms)
2 Tbsp dried parsley
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp garlic powder
2-3 tsp sea salt
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper

Slice squash in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds and sinew. In a microwave safe dish place halves open side down and add about ½ cup water. Cook on high for 10-12 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. While the squash cools prepare the rest of the dish – start with slicing pepperoni and roughly chopping mushrooms. When squash is cooled scrape out the ‘spaghetti’ with a fork into a bowl. Add mushrooms to the squash along with half of the herbs, salt and pepper and mix well. In a medium to large rectangular baking dish (no larger than 9×13) sprinkle about ½ cup of the cheddar cheese. Add the squash mixture. Take a mix of the cheese, about a cup, and spread on top of the squash mixture, pushing it into the squash a bit. Add the rest of the herbs and spices. Make a layer of the pepperoni, then top with the remaining cheese. Place in preheated oven and cook for 30-35 minutes, until cheese is melted and there is some browning. Let stand outside the oven for about ten minutes before serving. Slice like a casserole and serve with a simple garden salad.
 

February 14, 2012

Vegetable Curry Bake

Posted by ladybug under baked, casserole, potatoes, Seals' Kitchen, vegetables, wheat free
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I originally planned to make a chicken curry soup in the crock pot yesterday. Unfortunately it rained. When it rains Little B and I usually go outside and splash around in puddles and follow the path the water takes from the ditches to the creek. Don’t worry grandmothers. We don’t go cavorting when there is lightning or thunder, and we watch the flowing water from above. Our rainy adventure took much longer than originally planned, so there was not enough time before dinner to cook the soup slowly the way I like it. I will do it another day. There was time to layer up a casserole and get it baked, and my hankering for curry was humming away, so I checked out the fridge and pantry. I am working on improving my ratio of vegetables to meat, in that I want to eat mostly vegetables and a moderate amount of meat. I love meat, but it is loaded with calories. I don’t ever expect to completely remove meat from my diet, but eating less of it could not hurt. The following is an attempt at improving the veggie/meat ratio without leaving me hungry an hour later.

Vegetable Curry Bake

3 medium potatoes, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups broccoli, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 cup baby carrots, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 – 3 8” smoked sausage links, sliced lengthwise and then into bite-size pieces
1 large yellow onion, sliced to a medium julienne
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 cup broth (beef, chicken or vegetable)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9”x13” baking dish. Use half the potato slices to make a layer on the bottom of the dish, completely covering it by overlapping the slices. Lightly salt and pepper the potatoes. Add a mixed layer of the cauliflower, broccoli and baby carrots, topping with the chopped garlic. Sprinkle half the curry powder over the vegetables. Sprinkle the sausage slices on top of the vegetables. Add another layer of potato with the remaining slices. Finish with a layer of onions. Pour the broth over the onions, making sure it gets evenly distributed. Drizzle the olive oil over the top, along with some salt, pepper and the rest of the curry powder. Cook covered for one hour. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Cook an additional 30 minutes until brown on top. Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
 

January 19, 2012

Layered Chili Bake

Posted by ladybug under baked, beef, casserole, chili, wheat free
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This dish is a huge, gluttonous monstrosity. It is meant to be. I combined a couple of comfort foods into one dish. I will explain.

Big D makes chili and is really good at it. He uses three kinds of chilies – including powerful chipotles – along with onion, garlic, cumin and stew meat, as well as tomatoes, secret ingredients and sometimes some beer. He starts it in the morning in our well seasoned iron dutch oven. It simmers on the stove top all day, making the house smell like the Mexican restaurants I frequented when growing up in San Antonio. He stirs it, adds some of this and that, tastes it, stirs it some more. The result bursts with a smoky, spicy flavor that does not reveal its heat until about five bites into your meal. We always have leftovers that just don’t taste the same after they have been frozen, so there is always an urgency to eat it for days until it is all gone. I can eat bowl after bowl of it topped with cheese, sour cream and cornbread, but I get to a point when I look forward to the flavor, while also wanting some variety.

The other day we had some chili in the fridge, but I was craving a casserole. I was actually craving a casserole my mom used to make – layered enchiladas. I recall it had corn tortillas, ground beef, cheese, some mixture of sour cream and condensed soup, onions and tomatoes. My brother and I would gobble up a plate full of the casserole somewhere between school, soccer practice and homework. It was so good. I wanted the flavor of Big D’s chili and the texture of my mom’s casserole. I can do that. I know I can!

Necessity is the mother of invention, although there is debate as to who first made such a declaration. My craving necessitated a casserole, so I made one. This casserole adds some variety to our menu, freezes well, and stretches out a batch of chili.

Warning: Big D’s chili is usually thick and meaty, so if you try to use a watery canned chili I don’t want to know about it and cannot guarantee your results.

Layered Chili Bake

12-15 corn tortillas
1 cup salsa
4-6 cups leftover no bean chili (chili with beans should work, but control yourself and don’t add any separately)
2 cups sour cream

2 cups corn, cooked
2 cups cooked pinto or black beans
3-4 cups shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9×11 casserole dish. Add 1/2 cup of the salsa in the bottom of the dish and cover with 4-6 tortillas. Make sure the bottom of the dish is completely covered by overlapping the tortillas. Use half of the chili to make an even layer on top of the tortillas. Follow the chili with half the sour cream, 1 cup corn, 1 cup beans and about a cup of cheese. Continue by repeating once again the layers, ending with a top layer of tortillas. Cover the top tortillas with the remaining salsa and cheese. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 10-20 minutes until hot and bubbly.