A FEW HOT TAMALES!!

 Since we moved from

one of the meccas

of international cuisine - 

Southern California,

I have had to learn

to make many foods

than I enjoyed 

while living there.

One of my favorite

foods has always been Mexican

and there are a plethora

of Mexican restaurants in  

Southern California.

 Southwestern Virginia

has Taco Bell

and a a few
"American-Mexican" restuarants.

Truthfully,

they "don't make the grade".      

 I miss my Mexi-Cali food.

Tamales were always

one of our favorites and

when holidays rolled around,

I always called

Los Golondrinas.

Their green chili tamales,

chips and salsa

are second to none!!

Many traditional Mexican foods

are gluten free

if you use corn masa 

instead of flour.

Here's my try

at making tamales!!

 I decided that I was going

to make two flavors -

pork tamales and green chili.

I started out by cooking my pork

in the pressure cooker,

along with some salt,

pepper, crushed red pepper

and garlic, until it was fork tender.

Then I put my corn husk

in water to soak while

I roasted the Anaheim chilis.

I then mixed  

2 cups of tamale masa 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup shortening

2 cups of water

After that I peeled the chilis

and sliced the

pepper jack cheese.

I was ready for assembly.

I first started trying 

to put the masa

on the corn husk 

by using a rice spatula,

then I tried a wet regular spatula.

Neither of them worked -

the masa dough

stuck to them both.

I had to resort to 

using my hands

and they worked great.

It was a slow process

but I put the dough

on the corn husk,

then the filling

and rolled

like a burrito 

or sushi

and tied with a 

piece of corn husk.

     

             

 They didn't come out perfect,

but I did try to make

the pork ones long

and the pepper ones square

so you could tell them apart.

Then I steamed them 

for one hour.

While they were cooking,

I decided to try and update

my chili rellenos recipe

and make it as gluten free

as I could -

I did fair but I did still 

mix a smidgen of beer 

in the batter.

     

 They didn't turn out as pretty

as they normally do -

and I don't serve sauce over them -

we like to eat them 

when they are nice and crunchy!!

   

 Refried beans and tortilla chips

are another gluten free food -

just check the labels.

 

And of course it wouldn't be

Mexican food without a good

bowl of salsa.

Who says gluten free

has no flavor?

Just ask my hubby -

he was quite impressed

with his gluten free dinner.

Ole'

Blessings to all who visit here,

Lynn       

IT'S NATIONAL PIZZA MONTH

 My good friends,

Mitch and Molly,

are real foodies!!

And they are always

the first to know 

any celebration that includes pizza!!

I think it must be one

of their favorite foods - 

I know it's one of mine.

When I found out that I needed

to cut out gluten from my diet,

one of my first thoughts

was "oh no, no more pizza".

Was I ever wrong!!

I took one of my favorite recipes

and have made it gluten free!

 Even my hubby likes it!

         

Lynn's Gluten Free Deep Dish Pizza

Crust

 1 cup gluten free baking mix (+/-)

1 cup rice flour (+/-)

1 package yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 cup warm water

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon basil 

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

 2 tablespoons olive oil  

Dissolve yeast in water with sugar.  Add  1/2 of the baking mix/flour and mix.  Add olive oil and spices.  Mix in more flour until you have a good stiff dough that doesn't stick to the side of the bowl.  Knead briefly until smooth, adding baking mix/flour as needed.  Place in a bowl greased with olive oil, cover,  and let rise in a warm place.

Sauce

1 can tomato paste 

(I use Contadina organic)

1/3 cup water

1/2 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon onion flakes  

Mix all ingredients together and set to side.   

Toppings

1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage, 

browned and drained 

Optional - mushrooms, green pepper,

pepperoni, olives, onions

Mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

  

Brown ground beef (drain if needed) and add other pizza toppings that you wish to the mixture.  Turn off the heat and mix the sauce in with the  beef mixture.  

When the crust has risen, pat out into a greased deep dish pie plate.  Top with beef mixture and cheese.

Bake in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is brown.  Let rest about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!

Blessings to all who visit here,

Lynn  

 

SIRLOIN SOUP

 Mennonite Girls Can Cook

has always been one

of my favorite blogs.

They have great recipes

and I usually have most

of the ingredients 

in my cupboard.

 

 About a week ago,

one of the post was for

Sirloin Soup.

I had all of the ingredients

except for the leek and 

the fresh parsley.

Yesterday,

while shopping,

I remembered to get the leek,

but forgot the fresh parsley.

I made the soup anyway.

 I needed it to be 

gluten free,

 so I substituted

 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch

for the flour.

Since I forgot the fresh parsley,

I substituted 

1 tablespoon of dried parsley

for the fresh.

The blog recommended

serving crusty bread with it,

which I think would be wondeful,

but it's not gluten free.

I had olive tortilla chips with it

and they were a fabulous

accompaniment to it.

 

It all went well,

with a nice glass of

my favorite riesling.

Blessings to all who visit here,

Lynn

THE SEARCH CONTINUES....

When I started 

my gluten free adventure,

one of the first books,

I downloaded

was the 

Gluten Free Food List.

On Saturday,

my sweet husband,

helped me search the aisles

of one of our local supermarkets

for gluten free foods.

 

I have since then found that

The Celiac Disease Foundation

has a list of grocery stores

that carry gluten free foods

and those stores have a list

of many familiar name brand foods

that are gluten free!!

 

There is a also a website called

foodfacts.com

that not only list 

gluten free foods,

but other foods that people

might have problems with

such as peanut allergies, etc.

 It might be worth 

your time to look at it.

On Saturday,

I made waffles

with Bob's Gluten Free Baking Mix

using my regular recipe - 

they were superb!!

Maybe better than the ones

I make with real flour.

Blessings to all who visit here,

Lynn