Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is one of my favorite childhood dishes. I LOVED my mom's recipe.  She would make a big pot of it for all 9 of us, and there would never be any leftovers!  I had asked her for the recipe one time, but since she went by taste, it was really hard for her to give me an accurate recipe when I asked her for it.  What I ended up with had way too much sourcream in the sauce and just was not the same.  Even though this recipe is gluten and dairy free, it is the closest I have ever come to duplicating the recipe.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as our family does!

Beef Stroganoff

1 Pound Cubed Stew Meat

*  *  *  *

2 TBSP Butter

1/2 Medium Onion, Chopped

1/4 cup Fresh Parsley, Chopped

4 Medium-Large Mushrooms, Chopped

*  *  *  * 

1/2 Stick Butter

2 TBSP Rice Flour

4 TBSP Tapioca Starch

2 Cups Beef Broth

2 TBSP Potato FLOUR

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 1/2 Cups Rice Milk

*  *  *  *

1 Package (16 oz) Flat Wide Noodles, cooked and drained

1/2 - 2/3 cup Non-Dairy Sour Cream (optional)

Salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp to start)

Directions:

1) Crock Pot Stew Meat on high for 3 hours, Lo for 6 hours.  When it is cooked break apart the meat so it is stringy. You can cook the meat on the stove, but I do not recommend it, because it won't fall apart and will be 'tough'.

2) When meat is about ready, using the second list of ingredients: In medium skillet melt butter and sautee onions til soft and lightly brown, then add mushrooms.  After a couple minutes add the fresh chopped parsley. (I usually stick the noodles in their pot about right now) 

3) For this step you really want to make sure that you have all of the 3rd set of ingredients measured out and at your finger tips.  In a large skillet melt butter and then vigorously stir in the rice flour and tapioca starch. Continue stirring vigorously as you slowly add the beef broth making sure no lumps form. Keep stirring the sauce as you add half of the potato flour followed by the milk and then the remaining potato flour and garlic. Stir 'til the mixture has the thickness you like for your Stroganoff adding milk if you need to thin it some. 

4)  At this point you can add the sour cream to the sauce if you choose.  In our family we add sour cream to our plates as we serve ourselves.  There are many benefits to doing it this way; each person can add the amount they want, my husband can use dairy sour cream, and some of our kids prefer no sour cream. We also salt to taste as we serve too, for the same reason. In the end combine the meat, sauce and noodles in one large dish.  We usually use the crock pot, since it is the largest of our already used pots/skillets.

Creamy Cauliflower-Chicken Soup

Creamy Cauliflower-Chicken Soup

2 Medium-Large Chicken Breasts, thawed

3 Cups water for boiling

1/2 stick Butter

*  *  *  *

1/2 Medium Onion, chopped

2 thin long Carrots sliced in thin coins (or 10 baby carrots)

1 stalk Celery, well chopped

1 1/2 heads of Cauliflower, in big bite sized pieces 

1/4 cup Fresh Parsley Chopped

1 quart Chicken Broth

2 cups Rice Milk
Salt to Taste

Pepper to Taste

1/2 cup Non-Dairy Sour Cream (optional)
*  *  *  * 
1 recipe Cream of Chicken Soup

Directions:

1) Place chicken breasts and 3 cups water in a small-medium pot, cover and bring to boil. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE LIQUID WHEN DONE.  You will be adding the water to the final soup.

3) In Large soup pot, melt butter and sautee onions until soft. Then add celery to the pot.  After about 3-4 minutes turn heat to medium-lo and add other vegetables and parsley stirring to combine. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes stirring ocassionally. After 15 minutes add the 1 quart of Chicken Broth and increase the heat to medium.

4) While waiting on the vegetables, in a small pan make 1 recipe of Cream of Chicken Soup

5) When the Cream Cream of Chicken Soup is finished add it and the rice milk to the large pot with vegetables.

6) When the chicken breasts are cooked, set them aside, strain the liquid of particles, and add liquid to the large pot too.

7) Pull a part/shred the chicken breasts in strings.  You can add this to your main pot, or you can just add it to the bowls.  In our family we add the chicken to the kids bowls and my husband and I eat the soup as a vegetable soup. 

8) If you would like to add the sour cream, place it in a small mixing bowl and add about 1 cup of soup to it.  Mix well and then add it back to the pot and mix again.

9) We add the salt and pepper as we serve it, because some of us like more or less salt and pepper than others. If you want to add it to the whole pot at once, start out with about 1 tsp salt and 1/2-1 tsp of pepper.

**TIP:  Younger kids may not like seeing all the vegetables in their bowls.  I have one child like this.  SO what I did was smash/break up the visible Cauliflower in his bowl and he ate it with out a peep.  Pureeing the soup would also be a good easy idea for those little ones too.

Pozole

For dinner tonight we are having Pozole. Pozole is a Mexican soup that is usually made to celebrate an important event, like Christmas or New Years. So you are probably wondering what are you celebrating?  AND believe me you're not alone.  My husband, who is Mexican, always wonders that when I make it!  Tonight's celebration- How about getting through this week; it was a LOOOOONG week for me, filled with too many appointments!  This is one of my favorite soups and definitely one of my favorite mexican dishes. It is very easy to make and does not take much time and is also great for a tight budget and definitely a Gluten and Dairy free diet.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! 

Pozole

5 Medium-Large Chicken Thighs (skinned, bones in)

4 Large Dried Ancho Chiles, stem removed and seeds dumped out

3 Large Dried Guajillo Chiles (New Mexico or California Chiles will work if you cannot find Guajillo)

3 Medium-Large Cloves of garlic peeled and minced

*  *  *  *

4 cups of Chicken Broth (1-32 oz box of chicken broth)

3 Tsp Oregano

Salt to Taste

*  *  *  *

2 - 29 oz Cans of White Hominy

1/4 head of Iceburg Lettuce, Chopped in Shreds

1 Small White Onion, Finely Chopped

4-6 Limes, Halved

Additional Oregano for garnishing

Raddishes sliced thinly (optional)

1) Place dried destemmed and seeded chiles in the bottom of a large pot, followed by chicken and minced garlic over the top (so the chicken will hold the chiles down, preventing them from floating).  Fill pot with water so that water covers chicken by 1 inch.  Boil until the chicken is cooked through.

2) Remove chicken from broth and set aside.

3) Remove chiles from broth and then one by one remove the flesh from the skin.  It is easiest if you start at the tip of the chile and slowly pinch it toward the stem opening.  It does not matter how you do it, just that somehow you peel the skin off, or else you soup will be gritty. (If you are not particularly fond of spicy hot foods, you may want to keep the Guajillo flesh separate; blender it with a little broth, and add it to your soup like you will the garnishes.)

4) Boil the broth til there is about 5 cups left and skim off excess fat.

5) Take the chicken off the bones and remove fat deposits while you shred the chicken with your fingers.

6) Take a small amount of the broth from the pot and add the chile flesh to it.  Blender it til smooth.

7) Check that there are no bones stray in the broth, then blender the remaing broth and put the broth, chile mixture, and chicken back in the pot.

8) Add second set of ingredients to the pot, bringto a boil, then decrease heat to medium-lo

9) In a separate pot heat up the White Hominy with about 1 cup of water to prevent burning the hominy at the bottom of the pan.

Serve by first placing  heated hominy in bottom of the bowl, then add a scoop of the Chicken and broth, and finally top with the Lettuce, Onion, Radishes and additional Oregano if you choose.  Squeeze some lime juice over the top and enjoy! There is not a Mexican I know who does not top the soup with all of the fixin's including my kids, but I, however, like it with no more than just oregano and lime.

Gnocchi

If there is one thing I swear by in order for any change in diet to be successful, you must have access to like replacements of the foods you once enjoyed with equivalent flavor and texture.  The sacrifice must be kept to a minimum for success.  That is my goal with everything I place on this blog.  This post is one of those rare ones.  One of those ones that not only meats my goal, but takes it to the next level and puts the traditional equivalent to shame.  Perhaps I am cocky, or perhaps my belief is stemmed in the fact that I have never tasted the Italian real deal.  There is only so much that a store bought prepackaged product can offer and had I made my own Gnocchi in the days of Gluten gluttony, I am sure the end result would also have superseded the prepackaged store bought version. What a pleasant surprise this was!!  Sure to attract the attention of ALL gnocchi lovers regardless of dietary displacement.

For those of you not familiar with Gnocchi, it is like a cross of a noodle and a dumpling and can replace noodles in many dishes.  We like eating our Gnocchi with giant meatballs and seasoned tomato sauce.  I think these would be great in a chicken soup or a hearty stew too.

Gnocchi

4 small - medium or 2 large potatoes

*  *  *  *

2/3 cup Tapioca Starch

1/3 cup Rice Flour

2 TBSP Fresh Ground Flax

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp Salt, Scant

1/2 tsp Italian Seasonings (oregano, basil, thyme, sage)

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder, Scant

1/2 tsp Onion Powder, Scant

*  *  *  *

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

1) Bake the potatoes.  I do mine wrapped in foil in the crock pot on high for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. No liquid added.  (I recommend doing this the morning or night before.)

2) After baking them, let cool 'til you can touch them comfortably; peel and grate them using a small sized cheese grater.  Grate them into a medium sized bowl.

3) Mix 2nd group of ingredients in a small bowl.

4) Spread the shredded potato out (still in its bowl) and put half of the flour mixture on it.  Cut the flour into the potatoes til the grated potato appears to be coated in the flour. 

5) Add the eggs.  Use a rubber scraper to combine into the potato and flour mixture.

6) Add and incorporate enough flour to just dull the stickiness, but not completely take it away.  You should have about 1/3 cup left.

7) Leaving the dough in the bowl sprinkle some of the remaining flour over the dough and cut dough into handfuls.
8) Using the same flour, dust a cutting board and your hands generously.  Grab a handful of dough and roll into ropes of about 3/4 inch diameter. you should have enough flour on your hands and the dough that the dough does not stick to hands or cutting board.

9) Cut the rope into 3/4 inch pieces and roll/press down the tines of a fork.  Set aside as you finish each. (Since Gnocchi floats when it is cooked through, uniformity is not really important except for attention to detail.)

10) When the Gnocchi is formed place a handful in boiling water until the Gnocchi floats.  I keep it in the boiling water til it has been floating about 15 seconds.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a greased colander. Toss with oil in a bowl after they have drained in the colander sufficiently, to prevent sticking.

11) Use as desired; you can freeze leftover Gnocchi.  I don't recommend freezing it with any sauce.

You may be tempted to skip pressing the Gnocchi down the tines of a fork, but don't skip it.  The ridges that the fork forms holds the sauce on the Gnocchi thus adding to the flavor.

Chicken Dumpling Soup - Cheater Style!!

Today was a ridiculously crazy day.  My little monster who flooded my bathroom yesterday just so happened to unintentionally swallow his hearing aid battery when he was knocked on his back by his sibling in a race to the open fridge.  SO we found ourselves scrambling off to an X-Ray appointment about 2:30 and I knew that tonight's dinner ideas were going to be toast - almost literally.  Chicken Dumpling Soup with my inventive cheating methods was just an attempt to place a meal more decent than that on tonight's dinner table, but the end result was beyond my wildest intentions!

If you have never made a dumpling soup, it is a little tricky.  I'm talking even using the normal white flour (wheat), it's not all that easy to accomplish.  I tried Gluten Free Chicken Dumpling Soup one other time and it felt like it would be impossible to accomplish with Gluten Free ingredients, because the dough just dissembles into nothingness once it hits the boiling liquid.  SO today I implemented my Cheater Style and it not only worked, but the taste was of utter awesomeness!!  Its outcome caught me by such surprise that I did not even snap a picture of it prior to serving, hence no picture.  I was also rushing out the door so quickly after downing my bowl, that I did not even get to see the kids' reaction when they tasted theirs.  However, when I returned an hour and a half later, every single one of them and my not so gluten-free-thrilled husband came and told me how much they loved it! A definite hit!! The recipe was so excellent that it will definitely be made again at which time I will surely snap a quick pic and update the entry.

Chicken Dumpling Soup

Soup

3 Small-Medium Chicken Breasts Diced in 3/4 inch cubes

2 Small Carrots chopped in thinly sliced coins

2 Celery Ribs, average sized, sliced in 1/4 inch slices

2 TBSP Dried Onion Flakes

About 6 cups of water

* * * *

32 oz Box Chicken Broth

3/4 - 1 tsp Salt (or to taste)

1/8 -1/4 tsp Pepper 

1/4 - 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

 

Dumplings

1 cup Gluten Free Bisquick pancake/biscuit mix

1/3 cup Shortening 

* * * *

1 egg + 1 egg white

1/4 cup Rice Milk

1) Place first list of soup ingredients in a pot, cover, and bring to boil. Turn down as needed to prevent spillage. 

2) Now keep your eye on the soup, but direct your attention to the dumplings.

3) In a small mixing bowl, cut the shortening into the biscuit mix to pea sized (just as box instructs)

4) Add 2nd list of Dumpling ingredients and mix well.

5) Using a spoon drop dough onto cookie sheets in drops just bigger than 1/2 tsp.

6) Bake 375 for 8 -10 minutes til the bottoms are just golden; once you put them in the oven and set the timer, return back to working on the pot of soup on the stove.

7) Add 2nd list of soup ingredients to the pot and bring to boil again, then turn off stove.

8) Serve by placing dumplings in bowl as the soup is served.

Serves 2 Adults and 4 kids OR 4 Adults.

Loaded Potato Cream Soup

Loaded Potato Cream Soup

4 1/2 cups Chicken Broth

1 cup water

1/4 cup Starch (Arrowroot, Potato, Corn, Tapioca)
1/4 cup Rice Flour

1/4 cup Potato Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Onion Powder

* * * *

5 Medium red potatoes (w/ skin on) diced in 1/2 inch or smaller cubes and boiled

2 Green Onions, chopped

1-2 TBSP Bacon Grease

* * * *

1 TBSP Chicken Bouillon/Herb OX

1/2-3/4 cup Dairy Free Sour Cream

Crumbled Bacon

Grated Non Dairy Cheese

1) Leaving skin on dice red potatoes and precook.

2) Place all wet ingredients of 1st list in a pot.  Mix all dry ingredients of 1st list in a bowl and then slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Whisk to prevent clumping of the dry ingredients.

3) Place pot over medium-hi heat until mixture begins to thicken.  Then add list 2 to the mixture.  With lid on pot, let simmer 'til flavors have blended about 20-30 minutes.   Stir occasionally to prevent caking/burning at the bottom of the pot.

4) Turn off stove mix in sour cream & bouillon and add any additional onion/garlic powder or salt to taste.  

5) Serve and top with cheese and bacon.  Makes about 5-6 adult sized bowls.

Cream of Chicken Soup

Cream Soup Substitute

This recipe is a very flexible recipe and can be used in any recipe that is calling for a cream soup.  Depending on the type of cream soup you are needing you can change the broth.  Chicken broth for cream of chicken soup, Beef broth for things like my Beef Stroganoff, Vegetable or Mushroom broth for cream of mushroom soup.  There literally are no limits for this recipe and it will open up a variety of possibilities for your gluten and dairy free cooking abilities.


2 TBSP Starch (Arrowroot, Potato, Corn, Tapioca)
2 TBSP Rice Flour
2 TBSP Potato Flour
2 cups Broth
2 TBSP Non-Dairy Sour Cream
1-2 TBSP Chicken Bouillon/Herb OX (If your broth is already seasoned/salted, you likely won't need this)

Put tapioca, rice flour, and 1 cup broth in a ziploc baggy, seal it and mix.  When no lumps are present put it in a small pot with the other cup of broth and turn stove on high. While continuously stirring, sprinkle in the potato flour. Keep stirring.  When mixture has some bubbling from boiling, turn down to medium-low. Stir until thickening begins.  When the mixture begins to thicken remove from stove and continue stirring until uniformly thick.  Add Bouillon and Sour Cream according to the taste desired.

Tostadas and Fideo: Easy Peasy!

Tostadas.  The name says it all- again we are eating south of the border tonight!  For those of you who have never had or seen a Tostada, it could be described as a Salad on a large round tortilla chip, though the meal is far more complete than a salad.  When my husbands family eats tostadas, they usually have a simple soup with it too, called Fideo. Fideo is usually made with a bouillon tomato broth, however, these powdered mixes usually  have gluten and dairy in them, so I make it from scratch.

This makes for a fast and easy dinner at the last minute as long as you have all the necessary ingredients.  This recipe feeds 3-5.

Tostadas, you will need:

12 corn tostadas

2 Avocados (sliced thinly or diced)

1 large tomato (sliced thinly or diced)

1/3 head of lettuce, chopped

1/2 onion chopped (optional)

1- large can refried beans (or 3 cups homemade refried beans)

3 chicken breasts cooked and well chopped OR 

                1 pound cooked ground beef

Crema - 1/3 cup non-dairy sour cream mixed in blender with 

                 1/4 cup rice milk (consistency should like honey)

When all preparations have been completed, layer each tosatada shell in the following order:

1) Spread with refried beans (not too thick)

2) 2-3 TBSP chopped chicken OR ground beef

3) Lettuce (and onion if you choose)

4) 1-2 TBSP 'crema'

5) Tomatoes and avocados

Fideo:

4 oz tomato sauce

1 16 oz can chicken broth

6 cups water

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

6 oz Gluten Free angel hair pasta broken in 1-2 inch pieces

Salt to taste

1)  For the broth, combine first 5 ingredients in pot and bring to boil.

2)  In separate pot cook pasta until ready.

3) When Pasta is ready drain and add to broth.

You could choose to cook pasta in the broth, but I choose not to because gluten free pasta leaves a residue in the broth.  

Tortilla Soup

This soup is inspired by a small restaurant in one of the high rise buildings close to where I worked in downtown El Paso. It was one of the most wonderful holes in the wall in El Paso.  I searched Tortilla Soup recipes all over the place, but every recipe had red broth, beans, corn, or other Americanizing additives unfitting of the Mexican soup I was so fond of.  So I based my creation off the soup I remembered with very minimal additions.

I recently brought this to a Christmas Eve Party where each attending family was supposed to bring their favorite soup.  Usually on Christmas Eve we would eat Pozole as a family, but Pozole uses Hominy and has some rich distinct flavors in it that we thought other attendees would not appreciate, so we opted for Tortilla soup. The Mexican way.  I am so glad I have a picture to post so you can see just how glorious a bowl looks; doesn't it look blissfully divine.  Honestly, this soup is HEAVENLY. 

Tortilla Soup

9 boneless skinless chicken thighs
15 corn tortillas
32 oz box Chicken broth (or 2 cans broth)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 small can diced green chiles (brand name is best; generic tends to be soggy and mushy)
Garlic powder to taste
Salt to taste


Garnishes:
2 Avocados, diced
1 cup shredded non-dairy yellow cheese
1/2 bunch cilantro coarsely chopped
8 oz non-dairy sour cream

1) Boil Chicken thighs in large pot with enough water to cover 
     chicken plus about an inch. 

2) Let broth and chicken cool, shred/pull apart chicken, remove 
     excess fat from broth, return chicken to broth and set aside.

3) Cut tortillas in strips about 1 cm by 1.5 inches.  You can do 
     this by first cutting the tortillas in three equally wide strips 
     and then cut those strips in strips 1 cm wide. I just stack 
     tortillas all on top of each other and do this all at once. 

4) Fill deep pot with 3 inches of oil (I use an Asparagus pot seen here ).     
     Heat on high until you can drop a crumb of tortilla in and 
     watch it sizzle. Fry tortilla strips a handful at a time until 
     they are a golden brown.  After first handfuls turn heat down 
     to medium.  Set strips on a cookie sheet lined with paper 
     towels to cool. Store in paper bag.*

5)  To homemade broth add: 32 oz box/cans chicken broth, 
     finely chopped onion, can diced green chiles well drained, 
     garlic powder to taste, salt to taste. Boil until onions are soft; 
     about 15 mins. 

6) Serve soup, garnish with a handful of the fried tortilla strips, 
     freshly chopped cilantro, diced avocados, tablespoon non-
     dairy sour cream, and shredded yellow non-dairy cheese 

This recipe makes 12-15 bowls. I hope you enjoy it as much as our family does!

*If you want to cut on prep time you can buy store bought tortilla strips, but I do not recommend it.