Fried Green Tomatoes

Great movie, great food. Yummmm.

This was always my favorite food item at the State Fair....now that I am GF I'll have to make it at home. I was sad to not see any green tomatoes at the farmer's market last weekend, so on our way out I asked a vendor and he had one basked of gorgeous green tomatoes - yesssssssss.

Ingredients:
3 large, firm green tomatoes
1 cup cornmeal
2 eggs
1/2 cup cornstarch
s/p
oil (for frying, I use vegetable oil) - cover a large frying pan in oil, about 1/2 inch high
Ranch dressing, for serving

Directions:
Wash and slice tomatoes:

In three shallow dishes, place cornstarch in first, eggs in next (cracked and yokes broken) and cornmeal with s/p in last. Pat tomato slices with cornstarch:

 

Coat in egg:

 

Dredge through seasoned cornmeal:

Fry in hot oil until crispy golden brown:

 

Serve with salt and Ranch dressing!

Delicious corn cakes with steak and pan-roasted tomatoes

This recipe for corn cakes is from Real Simple (July 2011). These were FANTASTIC! Exactly what I'd been craving - carbs, hearty - yet light, great texture and flavor and something different. I had been feeling in a cooking rut. I was really tired of the same old meals, the same old flavors.

This recipe can be simple (just the corn cakes with  a jarred salsa for topping) or more labor intensive (like I made it, with all the above pictured toppings).

Ingredients for the cakes:
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil
s/p
3/4 cup GF all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup corn kernels (plus more for serving, if desired)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the milk, egg and 1 Tbsp. of oil.

 

Whisk together the wet ingredients, then incorporate the dry ingredients. Stir in the corn.

Heat 1 tsp. oil in a large skillet, working in batches, drop heaping 1/4 cup portions of batter into the skillet and cook until golden brown and cooked through. 

 

Serve the corn cakes with corn, sour cream, salsa, cheese, avocado, lime, cilantro, etc. 

For this meal, I served them as a side dish to skirt steak with pan-roasted tomatoes.

 

Enchilada hotdish

Luke refers to this dish as Mexican Lasagna....because it has layers, sauce, meat, cheese.....he has a point.

Ingredients:

24 small corn tortillas
1 pound ground beef
1 package Old El Paso taco seasoning
1/2 large white onion, diced
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 small jar of salsa verde or green enchilada sauce
4 cups of cheese (I used 2 cups pepper jack and 2 cups of colby jack)
1 can refried beans

Directions:
Brown hamburger and mix in taco seasoning according to package directions. Set aside.

In a 9x13 baking dish, layer tortillas to cover the bottom. Spread with refried beans (as thick as you'd like) and sprinkle with 1 cup of pepper jack cheese. Layer with more tortillas. Spread out the diced tomatoes and diced onion and sprinkle with cheese. Layer with more tortillas. Spread on the taco beef and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Layer with more tortillas. Pour salsa verde or enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle on the last cup of cheese.

Bake until edges of tortillas are crispy and cheese is all melted.

Spicy chicken fusilli

One of Luke's all time favorite foods is the Spicy Chicken Penne from Ciatti's. This is my GF version of the dish.

 

Ciatti's Ristorante in St. Cloud has a GF menu....but it made me a little nervous to eat there - as they are primarily a pasta-based restaurant.  When we last dined there, I ate the chicken marsala, it was served with roasted vegetables instead of pasta - it was incredible, best of all: I didn't get sick! 

We will definitely return there for more meals, but in the meantime, I can make this replica for Luke.

Ingredients:

1 box GF pasta (like fusilli or penne)

1 small package or jar of sun-dried tomatoes

1 pound of boneless-skinless chicken breasts or thighs

1 small jar of pre-made pesto

1/2 jar of pre-made Alfredo sauce (Bertolli and Classico are GF)

1 Tbsp. EVOO

1/4 cup of seasoning (we used some paprika, cayenne pepper, Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning and some BBQ rub seasoning that I got from a spice shop in CO - use whatever you like to give the chicken a "blackened" look with the right amount of flavor).

Directions:

Heat EVOO in a large fry pan. Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Mix the seasonings in a shallow bowl and lightly coat the chicken in the spices. Place in the warmed oil in the fry pan.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions. When finished cooking, drain and keep warm until chicken is done.

When chicken is finished cooking, you can prepare the pasta. Toss cooked pasta with pesto and a small amount of Alfredo sauce, just until coated lightly. Sprinkle with small pieces of sun-dried tomato. Place a sliced chicken breast on top and serve.

 

Tomato and mozzarella salad

This is a very simple and delicious side. The other night we grilled steak and I just wanted a simple dish to serve with the meat, this one is so yummy.

I sliced fresh mozzarella and baby heirloom tomatoes. I sprinkled salt and pepper over them and then drizzled on the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I chilled it for a bit and then served it cold.

Restaurant Review: Bar La Grassa

Luke and I received a very generous gift from our friend Courtney - a gc for Bar La Grassa in Minneapolis. We loved it. The food was incredible. I highly recommend giving this place a try.

Here is a link to their web page:
http://www.barlagrassa.com/
and they have their menu on the site. The food is sooooo good.

Pardon the quality of the photos....I forgot my camera and so we snapped these with Luke's iPhone:)

Luke and I each had a glass of wine, I had Pinot Grigio and Luke had a Chianti. We started with the caprese salad, the cheese was to die for.

 For our entree, we shared the Pork Tenderloin and the grilled asparagus.

 We finished our meal with the caramel crispelles. Words cannot describe this. Too yummy.

Chicken with capers and tomatoes

I found this recipe in a Pampered Chef cookbook and didn't change much. The flavor was good, but I would recommend seasoning the chicken more heavily, as without the tomato sauce it was a little bland. I love capers (salt) and this was a good use of them!

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. rice flour
s/p
2 Tbsp. EVOO
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/4 white onion, minced
1/2 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
2 tsp. small capers plus 1 tsp. caper juice
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 cups cooked white rice

Directions:
Heat 2 Tbsp. EVOO in a large saute pan. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Fry in the EVOO until cooked through, remove from pan, keep warm.

Add garlic and onion to pan, cook one minute (until tender), remove skillet from heat and add wine. Stir to loosen browned bits from bottom of pan. Return to heat; simmer one minute.

Add capers, caper juice and tomatoes, stir until heated through.

 Return the chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce, heat until chicken is hot again. Serve with white rice.

Taco night

Luke and I used to have taco night all the time, we would use the packets of taco seasoning and either ground beef or canned chicken. This time I decided to make my own taco seasoning. It tasted good, but the aroma was to die for. I love the smell of spicy seasonings and onion sizzling. So yummy.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 small white onion, diced
2 Tbsp. cilantro, roughly chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. chilli powder
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of tabasco
1/2 tsp. corriander
assorted taco toppings and either hard or soft gluten-free shells

Directions:
Brown ground beef in a large skillet, drain. Add diced onion, cilantro and other seasonings.  Add a Tbsp of water if needed to keep it from drying out.

Salsa

I love fresh tomatoes, I can't wait until local tomatoes are available in MN. Fresh salsa and bruschetta are two of my favorite things. I love to have this with chips, but it is also _really_ good on grilled chicken - yummy!

My salsa recipe is very simple. I generally use Roma tomatoes, but any variety will work, it just depends upon preference. I usually spoon out the seeds and juice, as I prefer thick and chunky salsa to the liquidy variety.

Recipe:
3 to 4 Roma tomatoes, diced (or 2 to 3 larger tomatoes)
1/4 white onion, diced
1/8 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
juice of 1/2 to 1 lime
sprinkle of cumin

Golden chicken with tomatoes and olives

This is a recipe from Real Simple that I've been wanting to try for awhile. I love olives with anything, and fresh grape tomatoes sauteed just enough to burst a little...so yummy.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice
2 Tbsp. EVOO
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
S/P
1 medium yellow or white onion, thinly sliced
1 cup pimento-stuffed olives, halved
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
Cook the rice according to the package directions. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown, transfer to a plate. Add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft. Add the olives, garlic and tomatoes and cook stirring for 2 minutes more.

Return the chicken to the skillet, add the wine and bring to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has slightly thickened.

Top with the fresh parsley and serve with or atop rice.