Apologies... Be Back Soon!

Hi all of you 8 or 9 people that read my blog! As you know from my ranting, I've been living in the UK for the past 6 months. Now, I'm heading back to the good ol' USA, and my life is a bit hectic. Once I'm back to the tiny, tiny kitchen I call my lab, you can expect tons of new great dishes, yummy desserts, and maybe even a few life lessons.

Thanks for being patient with me, and I can't wait to show you what I've been up to very soon!

You Scream, I Scream

Yes folks, that's right.  We all scream for Ice Cream, which means there's a lot of screaming going on.  This month's You Want Pies With That challenge is for a pie that exemplifies summer to each and every one of the talented bakers involved.  The suggestion comes from two of our very talented multi-winners, Mary and Rebecca.

Now, my last month's entry for YWPWT droned on and on about how my childhood was summer and how my memories were summery, and how my pie was basically in honor of summer.  Ouch. Looks like I should've saved it for a summery category!  But never fear, because I dug deep for my inspiration and I likey what I found.

It's hot out.  Naturally, you want something cold.  Iced tea?  No, something with more character. Lemonade?  Something sweeter maybe.  Wait, do you hear those bells?  Is that the Ice Cream Van?  Maybe you'd like some to go with your scorching sun...

And I always did and still do.  I love a good ice cream, and to me that really tops a summer day off with a sweet, lovely, and tantalizing sensation.  When the ice cream van stopped by and all the kids would run away from jumping through the sprinklers or dock their bikes on their driveways, I would run along too.  My favorite was the Chipwich.

A Chipwich is an ice cream sandwich that is composed of vanilla ice cream rolled in chocolate chips in between two chocolate chip cookies.  And it's awesome.  It's so good you want to name your first child Chipwich, or Chip for short.  So a second to my summery thoughts last month, I shall propose that summer equals my favorite ice cream sandwich.

But making the sandwich into a pie with just vanilla ice cream was too easy for me.  I had to spruce it up a bit for my more adult palate.  So, between two crusts resembling giant chocolate chip cookies, I layered Hagen Das Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream first, then placed fresh sliced strawberries on top, finished off with Hagen Das Vanilla Ice Cream.  Sort of Neopolitan, if you will.

Neopolitan Chipwich Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

1 pint chocolate ice cream, softened

1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened

1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

3 packages GF shortbreads or cookie of choice

soy-free chocolate chips to sprinkle

Directions:

Crush 3 packages of GF shortbreads to make about 2 cups of crumbs.

Pour 1 cup of crumbs into the base of a tart pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips to resemble a giant cookie.

Pour softened chocolate ice cream on top, carefully layering it over the crumbs, and freeze until par-frozen (30 mins-2 hours depending on freezer)

Press sliced strawberries into par-frozen ice cream and re-free until frozen.

Pour softened vanilla ice cream on top, and free until par-frozen.

Pour 1 cup of crumbs onto the vanilla and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Freeze until ready to serve.

Note:  The engineering of this pie is kind of tricky.  Here's what I would do to avoid the problems I had.  I would use strawberry ice cream instead of fresh frozen strawberries, because the real strawberries are very difficult to cut through.  I would also wait 20 minutes with the pie out of the freezer before attempting to saw through it.  I was trying to get a picture so I rushed, and it was nearly impossible.

So that's all folks.  Almost didn't make it as I had to detour to the hospital tonight, but all is mostly well so don't worry too much about me :) Can't wait to see what the other fabulous creatives on the blogroll came up with.  You should check it out too!

Mmmm.... That Looks Gross!

But it tastes good, and that's the most important part of the equation folks. Since my oven here isn't conducive to cooking meat, I've been doing a lot of stove-top cookery (you may have noticed.) The reason my oven isn't up for roasting, baking or broiling is because when it gets too hot (aka is on for more than 25-30 mins) it shuts itself off and does not allow itself to be awakened again until it is ice cold. An oven that gets too hot? I ask you, where is the sense in this country? Anyhow, back to my stove-top adventures...

I like to slow cook meat in sauces frequently if I'm stove-top cooking because that tender, fall-away, juicy deliciousness is just such a perfect exploration of the marriage of flavors be it smokey, sweet or savory. Alas, when you stew meat in a sauce for say, over an hour, it sometimes can start to look a little less than gorgeous. I mean, the meat will taste amazing but it won't be the prom queen. As is the case with a very good recipe I threw together a couple of weeks back. Inspired by the wonderful flavors of Latin cuisine and my insane love of black beans, I made a Chicken Thighs Stewed in a Black Bean Sauce. Oops! Wait, there's no black beans readily available in the UK stores? Oh, well then, how about refried black beans? Okay, I'm sold. It also cuts out the whole washing and cooking of raw black beans; I like any way that reduces the amount of steps it takes to make dinner.

Positives about this dish: flavorful, lots of protein, tender, and juicy.

Negatives about this dish: time is takes, and the whole beans, beans the magical fruit theory...

The sauce that I threw together covered the chicken, but it might have been too much to serve the chicken with. It kind of looked like black bean soup with large hunks of chicken. And a bowl of black bean sauce doesn't exactly look appetizing; I'm warning you so you don't have high expectations of the photograph. I can tell you that what it lacked in presentation it definitely made up for in yummyness. Try it. You may like it. Or at least you'll get rid of your unwanted house guests with your new-found gas issues.

Chicken Thighs Stewed in Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients:

12-14 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 12-16 oz can of refried black beans (standard size)

4 oz can of mild green chiles, roasted and chopped

3/4 cup thick salsa

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp garlic paste

pepper to taste

Directions:

In a hot skillet coated with oil, brown chicken thighs.

In a large pot, cook all other ingredients together and bring to a medium boil, keeping the mixture covered.

When the thighs are browned, transfer them to the large pot and cover them with sauce.

Reduce heat to a low boil, simmer and cover for 2-3 hours.

Remove and serve with rice or over a salad or just as is!

Super easy right? I would make it a Q & E recipe except for the fact that it stews for 3 hours, and even though you're not attending to it, the cooking is not quick. It's just being ignored.

PS. Dear Reader, you know my food doesn't usually look like the above, so don't judge me will ya? I have some beautiful GF pasta I'm waiting to post so don't think I've gone off the deep end on you!

YWPWT: Childhood Memories Pie

It's raining in the UK.  It's been raining all weekend.  I can't help to transport myself back to how summer was for me when I was growing up in sunny, hot South Florida.  This is convenient because this month's You Want Pies With That Challenge brought to us by the amazing Ellen at Kittymama is to "bake a pie or tart inspired by a favorite childhood memory."  

Most of my childhood memories involve me eating fruit- a lot of fruit.  This was mostly two-fold considering I lived in the land of produce/easily importable produce and the fact that my mother often liked to give us fruit as desserts or snacks.  Often before or after meals we would have a slice of melon, some grapes, or her favorite and mine: those tiny mandarin oranges that came in a can.  I loved those little cans of mandarin oranges, and if it were purely based on  a sole memory, yes I would have made a mandarin orange tart.  However, I am not allowed to eat any type of orange right now, so I am going to the next best flavors to marry my memories.  

To me, summer was my childhood.  I grew up in a tropical summer climate all year round. Every time I eat a mango, guava, pineapple, passion fruit etc... I am instantly transported to feeling like I'm home, like everything is right in the universe.  It brings me back to family summer trips to Marco Island or Naples, or just going to Miami Beach for the day.  Going shopping in Coconut Grove or Las Olas with my mom and getting lunch, usually a salad with fresh fruit in it. Every time I taste a smoothie or margarita, I can smell the sunscreen and feel my toes crunching into the baking sand.  I miss Florida very much sometimes; it was a fantastic place to grow up.

So in honor of all these memories, I've made Mango & Lime Tropical Tartlets. These little darlings are made up of my typical tart shortbread crust, a mango puree, a lime custard, topped with fresh mango. They're also small, like me as a child and now, the same height as a child. With each bite, I can smell the sunscreen now.  Can you?

Mango & Lime Tropical Tartlets

Ingredients:

Crust:

3 1/2 cups GF shortbread crumbs

200 grams butter, melted

Mango Puree:

2 mangoes, pureed

1 tbs agave

Lime Custard:

2 cups milk (I use fat-free, lactose free)

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup GF flour mix

1 dash salt

2 tsps vanilla extract w/seeds

1/2 grated lime rind

1 tbs butter

the juice of 2 limes or key limes, squeezed (use 1 if you want the fragrance but not the flavor)

Optional Topping:

Chopped mango, nectarine, pineapple, lime

Whipped Cream

Mango Puree

Directions:

Although it's a bit of a process, it's not hard.  Just step by step folks...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine crust ingredients and pat into a 12 muffin tin lined with parchment paper cups.

Bake crusts for about 6-12 minutes depending on your oven yield.

When light brown, remove and cool, placing tin on wire rack.

Make custard in the following steps:

Mix sugar, flour, and salt together.

Combine beaten eggs into sugar mixture slowly until well combined.

Scald milk on stove top; do not burn, do not boil!

Add sugar mixture to milk slowly, whisking constantly until thick (it takes a few minutes)

Remove from heat.

Add vanilla, lime rind, lime juice and butter and whisk together until combined.  Set aside.

Coat the bottom of each tartlet with mango puree.

Top that with a huge dollop of the lime custard.

Refrigerate until slightly set.

Assemble as artistically as you would like and voila!  You're done.  Time to eat those suckers.

What I liked most about these (besides the obvious fragrance/flavor) is that they weren't too sweet.  They were still very rich (the custard is thick and you will have about a cup leftover), but they didn't leave me feeling like my teeth were rotting.  See that's what's so great about fruit.  It's light, fresh and leaves you feeling fantastic.  Now if it weren't for all that butter in the crust... ;)

Quick & Easy: Turkey Snow Peas with Pickled Ginger

I've been a little quiet lately. Okay, I've been a lot quiet lately but that doesn't mean I've slowed down in the kitchen. Each week I've spent my time cooking up a storm and man oh man it's time for me to post some of these suckers. Let's start with this one, shall we?

From a previous post, you will notice that it's pretty difficult for me to eat most types of Asian cuisines (at least authentically,) and though at one time it was my favorite type of food, it has taken a back-burner to some of my other favorites with more allergy friendly fare. But I was jonesing a couple of weeks back so I had to try my hand at some more fake Asian fusion food!

One of my favorite Chinese dishes has always been chicken and snow peas. I loved it! I wanted it. Badly. Since I had ordered some veggie sushi to the flat a couple of nights before (I love me some avocado rolls folks) I had a ton of leftover pickled ginger.

I have to fly off the path for a minute to take a minute to explain how fully I absolutely go head over heals for pickled ginger. Sometimes, there's more ginger on my sushi than there is actual sushi, but to me, it brings it all together. Pickled ginger is sweet and spicy and bold and smells insanely good. And though it seems to show up in Japanese cuisine more readily than in others, I wish it was a part of day to day eating. It's complexity, not to mention its health benefits, are second to none. But I digress...

Back to the meal: I had a ton of leftover pickled ginger and there was a good deal on turkey at the market so I decided to make turkey, snow peas, and you guessed it, pickled ginger. It was warm, and delicious, and didn't really taste like the restaurants would make it, but hey, you do the best with what you've got folks! Enjoy my mish-mash fake fusion folks. It's cheaper than take-out. Though I can't promise it's easier than picking up the phone ;)

Turkey Snow Peas with Pickled Ginger

aka

Fake Asian Fusion

Ingredients:

1 pound lean boneless, skinless turkey thigh, chopped up

3 oz snow pea pods, washed

2 tbs +1 tsp of gluten-free, soy free Worcester sauce

1 tbs + 1 tsp of garlic paste

3 takeaway packets + 1 small serving of pickled ginger*

sesame oil

cracked black pepper to taste

*Note: Since I was using leftover takeout ginger, it came in a small cup like salad dressing would with 3 ketchup sized packets. Use as much or as little as you like. And if you don't like pickled ginger, than use fresh or ginger powder. I'm not going to judge you ;)

Directions:

Coat a large skillet/saute pan with sesame oil and heat on medium to high

And turkey and brown.

Add snow peas, salt, pepper, and Worcester sauce.

Keep sauteing over medium to high heat for 5-10 minutes making sure to keep stirring so nothing burns.

Add ginger, garlic paste and a touch more oil and incorporate until you are happy with the flavor.

Serve up a helping over easy microwave white, brown or basmati rice OR serve with even more veggies. Yum!

This was quick, healthy, easy and cheap. I hope all you allergics and non-allergics can enjoy it as much as I did. Hopefully one day they'll discover a way of making GF, soy-free fake soy sauce. That will really be the day I can live it up, but this ain't so bad in the meantime :)

Pumpkin Muffins Trial 2: Success!!

I tried these a couple of weeks after the disaster that was the first PM trial.  The texture is still a little spongy but I have a feeling that's because there's no actual sugar or oil in these bad boys. I know that a muffin without many traditional muffin ingredients can seem boring or gross, but I'm used to the whole eating without traditional ingredients thing at this point.  And really, it's not that bad.  I kind of even like them!

Very important: these muffins should never be served cold.  You can store them in the fridge or freezer and they keep well, but without heating them up in the microwave or oven it's not a good idea.   They're hard as rocks when they settle. Again, these aren't sounding like the most appetizing of treats but they're a good substitute when trying to eliminate certain ingredients. Here's what I tried this time around:

Nearly Free From Everything (including awesome texture)

Pumpkin Muffins, Trial #2

Adapted from 1Steve at Recipezaar:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup GF rice flour blend

1/3 cup + 2 tbs agave

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp spice blend

1 egg

1/2 cup milk (I use lactose free skim milk)

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/4 cup apple puree

Directions:

Preheat oven to 35o degrees F.

Place parchment paper liners in a 12 muffin pan.  Do not grease; it's parchment paper.

In a bowl, sift all dry ingredients together.

Add all wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix well, careful to not over-mix.

Drop sticky batter into 12 liners and bake, watching carefully until muffins brown (about 6-12 minutes in the crazy oven I'm using.)

Remove and cool.

Since this trial, I've also tried replacing the pumpkin with 1 1/2 cups mushed banana.  Those were quite yummy as well with nice, big chunks of squished banana.  Even the saddest of muffins can sometimes make an allergic girl quite happy.  Plus they're honestly easy, quick, and cheap to produce.  Who doesn't like that?

Tradition Tastes Good

I'm certainly over the weather here in the UK; it's put me under the weather again I'm afraid. And even though I'm sickly, traveling for work, and haven't slept in a day, I refuse to let that stop me from posting a quick bit about this month's You Want Pies With That challenge. Chosen by the ever fantastic Natalie of Oven Love, all of the talented bloggers had to put forth a pie that was either a family favorite or inspired by a family favorite.  What a great theme right?

I chose to close my eyes and go with one of my first taste memories: butterscotch.  Often associated with grandparents for one reason or another, butterscotch is a rich and deliciously decadent flavor derived from butter and brown sugar (among other things.)  Since butterscotch pudding, cakes or otherwise has always been a family favorite, I decided to go with that.

To compliment the smooth and sweet flavor of the brown goo, I chose to bake a fake amaretti, gluten free cookie crust.  I found a wonderful brand that makes a fake nutty cookie (no nuts used in the factory) and is free of almost every other major allergen you can think of.

Since this challenge recognizes that some family favorites need to remain in the family, I am choosing not to post my filling recipe.  It'll just have to be my little secret!

Go check out YWPWT to see all the other amazing creations~