Fast French Onion Soup!! (Fast? I bet you just said, yeah right...)

4 tbs unsalted butter

dash of olive oil

5 large white onions, sliced thin (for a sweeter soup, use Vidalias or increase sugar to 2-3 tsp)

1 tsp sugar

dash of salt

ground pepper

8 cups broth (beef, chicken, or veggie stock will do!)

shredded or freshly grated cheese (most recipes call for Gruyere, but I love mozzarella or cheddar)

gluten free bread (if you’re not gluten free, sliced French bread is great for this)

2 cups dry white wine (I use Chardonnay, but a Pinot Grigio would be perfect)

Earlier this week, I heard someone on the radio say that he guaranteed that if he asked most people if they would prefer more time or more money that 9 out of 10 people would say more time. I’m not sure if I agree with that since I like to keep busy, but time is certainly precious. So, French onion soup? Who has time?

My sweetie likes to remind me that patience is a virtue. As if I didn’t know that? The problem is, of course, that I don’t have a lot of it. That isn’t to say, however, that good things don’t come to those who wait. Trust me. If you’re willing to put in some time, this French onion soup is going to blow your mind! That being said, traditional cooking of French onion soup takes hours…mine is the slightly speedy version. J

Combine the butter and olive oil in a large pot. Melt over medium heat. Add your onions, tossing with the butter to coat, cover, and cook for 20 minutes until soft. Stir occasionally. Then it’s time to turn up the heat (to medium-high). Allow your onions to cook for 5-10 minutes (again stirring occasionally) until they begin to brown. Then turn the heat back down to medium. Add the sugar and a dash of salt and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes. By this point, my onions are starting to look a little papery. Yum!

Add your broth, wine, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a quick boil for two minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Ladle into soup ramekins (bowls), top with a slice of bread (gluten free should probably be toasted or broiled on one side first). Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Broil on low for 2-3 minutes until bread is toasted, then add cheese and broil for an additional 1-2 minutes until the cheese is bubbly or starts to brown.

Voila! French onion soup in about an hour!

Seafood Risotto

I love Italian food…don’t you? The problem is, being gluten-free (and not by choice!), Italian is hard to get right. Pasta just isn’t pasta if it’s made from corn, rice, quinoa, etc. But risotto is one of those yummy dishes that is as Italian as they get…and it doesn’t have a bit of pasta in it. It’s creamy and rich and just melts in your mouth. Mmmm… Plus, the cool thing about risotto is that you can mix and match ingredients. Don’t want seafood? Use chicken, sausage, or even beef. Don’t like asparagus and bell peppers? Substitute broccoli and spinach. It’s such a versatile dish. The only thing you must have is onion, garlic, butter, olive oil, Arborio rice, and broth. Everything else is window dressing!

When I get stressed out, risotto is the perfect dish. I feel like I’m eating decadent food, but I tell myself it’s good for me since it’s full of vegetables (somewhat hidden for my sweetie’s comfort). What can I say? I’m a stress chef. Just the act of cooking a dish like this one calms me down and helps me find my center. In college, this was accomplished with a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese and a beer. Now that I can’t have either, I prefer something a little different. I know, I know. Some of you are probably thinking I’m weird, but to each her own, right? So on Friday, I was majorly stressing when I walked into the grocery store, and Publix had these beautiful sea scallops on sale…

Ingredients:

1 to 1 ½ bell peppers (for this one, I used ½ a red pepper, ½ a green pepper, and ½ an orange pepper), diced

medium onion, diced

4 tbsp garlic, minced, divided

1 cup diced portabella mushrooms

1 bunch asparagus, woody ends removed, cut into ½ inch pieces

1 cup Arborio rice

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I made mine with Better than Bullion…yum!)

4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided

2 tbsp olive oil

1 pound sea scallops

½ pound live mussels (Buy these on the day you are planning to cook! They are ALIVE and will die and be yucky if they can’t breath in your fridge.)

¼ cup white wine

Begin by prepping your veggies. Keep the asparagus separate as it won’t be added until the end of the cooking process. Sauté the peppers, onion, 2 tbsp mined garlic, and mushrooms in 2 tbsp of butter and the olive oil over medium-high heat for three to five minutes. Add the rice and sauté for two minutes. Then lower the heat to medium-low and sauté for an additional three minutes. Add one cup of broth, stir, and cover. Allow the broth to cook into the rice mixture, adding an additional cup of the broth when it has cooked into the rice mixture. Stir occasionally to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of your pan. It generally takes about 20 to 25 minutes from start to finish to cook the rice mixture. When it’s done, the rice should be tender and creamy. (You can even substitute ½ cup of broth for a cream or half-and-half or add ½ a cup of Parmesan cheese to make it even creamier!) When you begin cooking your seafood, add the asparagus to your rice mixture so it will have time to steam in the pan but still be nice and crunchy. Yum!

To cook the scallops, put 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp garlic in a skillet. Melt your mixture over medium-high heat and add the scallops. Sauté for four to five minutes, turning them over halfway through. Do not be tempted to overcook! Overcooked scallops are rubbery. Remove the scallops from your pan and add the mussels and ¼ cup of white wine. Cover your pan so that your sauce mixture boils. Mussels open as they cook. Watch them…cook them for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes after they begin to open. Remove mussels from the pan and add sauce left in the pan to your rice mixture. Add scallops and mussels to your risotto pan. Done!

Serve in a bowl, topped with a little bit of Parmesan cheese. Watch as your family races for seconds! This recipe serves four if used as an entrée and up to eight if served as an appetizer.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Healthy veal scallopini? Yes, please!

Today, at the grocery store, I was waiting at the butcher counter when I glanced down and saw the most gorgeous 1/2 pound of veal cutlets that I've seen in a long time. Some people don't eat veal and lamb (just as some people don't eat meat at all) because of where it comes from...but I don't have any such qualms as long as the meat is certified tether and hormone free. To me, veal is one of those slightly sinful meats, almost always breaded and slathered in butter/cheese or combined with sausage or on top of a huge mound of pasta. As a matter of fact, veal is one meat I have studiously avoided since going gluten free simply because I was unable to picture it any other way. Today, however, I decided that I wanted it so I impulsively put it in my shopping cart (sorry Mom, I know veal is nowhere near my wedding diet).

When I got home, I started looking at veal recipes online and decided on veal scallopini...it's quick, simple, and it doesn't (necessarily) require pasta. So I took stock of what yummy veggies I could make into my sauce and found tomato, onions, and asparagus. I would imagine you could make any of your favorite yummy veggies make your sauce, but these are my personal favorites.

This recipe is for two:

1/2 pound veal cutlets

2 small onions

1 large tomato

1 bunch asparagus (approx 1 lb)

2 tablespoons minced garlic

salt

pepper

olive oil

flour (tonight I used King Arthur gluten free multi-purpose flour)

whatever wine you're drinking while you cook (mine was red - Petite Syrah)

Begin by tenderizing your veal. Some people will tell you that you can skip this step. I disagree wholeheartedly. I own a meat mallet for a reason (and it's not to chase my darling husband-to-be around our kitchen)....it's because certain meats are best thin and tender. Veal is one of those. Place your cutlets between two pieces of plastic wrap (I like this for ease of cleaning, but wax paper works great too!) and pound away till your veal is (uniformly) half as thick as it was when you started. The thinner it is, the more tender it will be. Don't go over too overboard though...you want something left to cook! Slice your veal into 3-4 inch strips.

Now, prepare your vegetables. Cut the tomato into pieces that are about the size of a quarter. Sliver your onions, and cut your asparagus into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces (discard the woody end of the stems). Mince your garlic (or get it out of that insanely large jar of minced garlic that has permanent residence in your fridge like mine).

Pour just enough olive oil in your skillet to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil olive to medium-high. Just like frying anything, the oil is ready when you put a tiny pinch of flour in and it sizzles rather than sinking. Salt and pepper your veal and dredge it through your flour (yay, gluten free flour!). Shake off any excess flour and place them in the hot oil. Cook approximately 1 minute on each side. Don't overcook! Veal gets tougher the longer you cook it. When the flour has browned on each side, remove the veal from the oil and place it on a plate lined with an absorbent cloth.

Back to the skillet! Add your garlic, onions, and asparagus, and sauté them for two minutes. Add your tomatoes, a healthy splash of wine, and some salt and pepper. Then simmer your sauce till your veggies are as crunchy as you like them. Me? I'm a crunch-lover so the sauce was on for less than six minutes...

To plate, spoon a nice-size portion of the sauce directly onto the plate, arrange your veal on top, then top with a little more sauce. I served this with crunchy green beans and cottage cheese (which previously-mentioned fiance said made it taste "really Italian"...haha!).

Are Brussell sprouts...

...the bane of your existence? When you were little, did you try to feed them to your dog? When you see them, can you immediately taste bitter mushiness in your mouth? If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, then you are reading the right post. The trick with Brussell sprouts is to minimize the bitter (caused by plant chemicals known as glucosinolates) and maximize the yummy. My mama has always said I have never been a picky eater (but then, she never tried to feed me Brussell sprouts either), but I was never a big fan of these "baby cabbages" until a few years ago.

I will credit my friend Aubrey with this yummy recipe, and I will admit to being skeptical when I heard how simple the recipe was...up until she made me these crunchy yummy wonders, I liked to undercook the sprouts and pair them with a stronger taste (like Ranch dressing or feta cheese). Now my fiance and I eat these about three or four times a month.

Take a minute to look at your sprouts...they should be bright to dark green with little to no yellowing of the leaves and no obvious bug damage. Each of these little beauties looks like a little cabbage with leafy head and hard stalky end. If you have the chance to buy a whole stalk of sprouts, do it! It's always cool to see where your food begins...(it's also okay to cheat and buy the sprouts in the nice recyclable plastic container that they come in at most grocery stores). Whatever you do though, these sprouts must be fresh, not frozen.

Begin by cutting the end off of the sprouts (just like cutting the hard end off a cabbage). Cut enough that you're taking off a good bit of the hard white end (that's where most of the bitter is) but not too much. When you cut the sprout in half, an outer leaf or two should come off easily, leaving the tightly packed inner leaves in place. When you have taken off the end and cut each sprout in half, remove the loose leaves and place your sprouts in a large bowl. Toss them with olive oil and allow them to sit for five to ten minutes to absorb a little of the oil.

Spread your sprouts on a cookie sheet (the olive oil on the sprouts will keep them from sticking). Don't pour the left over oil onto the sheet (you can use it to make salad dressing for your other healthy side, right?). Place the cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Turn the sprouts over after about 10 minutes (they should be starting to brown nicely on the side that was touching the pan). When the sprouts are nicely browned (not crispy) on each side, remove them from the oven and sprinkle them with a little bit of seasoned salt (I like Lowry's because it's gluten-free).

At this point you can either be good and put them on your plate with your dinner....or you can be like me and pop a few in your mouth right away. These are nutty, a little crunchy, and delicious! Nothing to be bitter about at all!

La zuppa toscana

I love soup. I eat it in the fall. I eat it in the winter. I eat it in the spring. I love soup so much, I even eat it in the summer…though chilled soups are much better at times like that. The weather is a little dreary today, and even though it’s April, it made me think of soup. So here’s a look at one of my favorites, stolen right off the menu from Olive Garden: la zuppa toscana.

So, I’ve been in love with this soup for as long as I can remember…creamy stock, crumbly potatoes, savory sausage and onions, and crispy kale. The problem I keep running into though is that a) it’s not listed on the gluten free menu at Olive Garden and b) they stopped putting the large amounts of kale in the soup that made me love it in the first place.

This soup is simple and homey and so fast to make…and it makes me want to say “buon giorno” or “ciao bella” (or something equally Italian) while I stand in front of my stove.

You will need:

1 sleeve of Jimmy Dean (or brand of your choice) sage sausage

3 large Russet potatoes

1 large white or yellow onion

2-3 Tbps. minced garlic (3-4 cloves?)

kosher salt

black pepper

bunch of kale (though how much you use is up to you, haha!)

half-and-half (I use fat-free Lake o’Lakes)

chicken bullion

Cut your potatoes into ½ to ¾ inch pieces. Boil them in the chicken stock you make from the bollion (5 cubes to 10 cups of water...or 3-4 tsp of Better Than Bullion Chicken which is so definitely better than bullion since it's gluten-free and delicious...it comes in a highly viscous form in a jar at your grocery store) in a large soup pot until mostly tender.

While waiting for your potatoes, brown the sausage with the onions and garlic. I usually use less garlic if the onion smells particularly strong, but that’s a judgment call on how much you love onions and garlic. I personally could probably fend off vampires with my garlic consumption each week, but I know that some people don’t love it as much as I do. Make sure to drain the sausage as (I love Jimmy Dean anyway) it’s pretty greasy.

When the potatoes are mostly tender, add the sausage/onion/garlic concoction to the pot. Stir and simmer for two or three minutes. Add enough half-and-half to make it creamy but not terribly thick (usually up to a full cup…I eye-ball it since too much makes it pretty heavy). Here’s where you want to start tasting this heaven-sent yumminess (if you haven’t already). Salt and pepper to taste (I don't usually add a lot of salt because the bullion is pretty darn salty).

Now, let’s talk about the kale…I like mine pretty crunchy, and if you don’t, now is the time to start ripping the kale into half-dollar sized pieces and throwing it in the pot. If you are a crunch lover like me (everything else in the soup is soft), put your ripped kale in the bottom of each person’s soup bowl just prior to serving. Allowing the hot soup to soften the kale for a minute or two gives just the crunch and texture that I’m looking for.

This soup refrigerates well for up to five days. The cream in the half-and-half will separate as will the fat from the sausage, but heating it up makes it all blend together again. The soup also freezes well for up to four months. It’s great to pull out to thaw one morning when the temperature isn’t going to be quite as warm as you wanted (reheat on the stove or in the microwave).

I guess all that’s left to say is BUON APPETITO!

Gluten free Maryland crab cakes

Mmmm...Maryland crab cakes

2 lb crab meat (pick out any shells)
3 stalks celery, minced
1/2 bell pepper (I use orange), minced
1/2 medium onion, minced
2 eggs
1/2 cup gluten free mayonnaise (regular Duke's works best!)
2/3 cup gluten free bread crumbs (you can use regular if you're a regular kind of guy or gal)
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 shakes of garlic powder
7-8 dashes dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. If you aren't squeamish, use your hands to really work the ingredients together (like hamburgers!). Form the mixture into patties. I like big ones, but small ones would be yummy too. The cooking instructions are for quarter pound patties, so just make sure you watch so that smaller ones don't overcook.

Bake at 375 degrees. Flip after 15 minutes then bake another 10-15 minutes till firm. Use caution when flipping...gluten bread crumbs don't have the same sticking power as regular bread crumbs! I used a pancake spatula and a baking silicon spatula...only broke one.

Makes 8 quarter-pound-ish patties. These reheat well. Serve with remoulade sauce (see below) or your favorite tartar sauce.

To make the remoulade sauce (my personal recipe, so sorry if it's less than authentic!):

1/2 cup mayonnaise

lemon or lime juice

minced garlic

sugar

parsley

basil

horseradish or Tabasco sauce if you want to make it spicy

Add citrus juice to the mayonnaise and whisk till smooth. Add 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon each of parsley and basil, and add sugar to taste. If you want a spicier sauce, add fresh grated horseradish or Tabasco sauce. Whisk.

Hey y'all (Corey)

It has been such a long time since we posted anything...and I could make excuses, but I won't. We're busy ladies, and sometimes you make things a priority even if it's not what you want to be doing. But, hey, we're back, and we'll be posting lots of yummy stuff.

Laura and I found out right after our last post that we have Celiac disease. Without getting too technical, it basically means that we can't eat anything with gluten in it. What's been interesting for me, at least, has been finding out just how well-versed the restaurant and grocery world already is about gluten. Except for a few slip-ups, both Laura and I have been pretty good at staying away from anything with a derivative of wheat, barley, or rye. So now our posts will mostly be gluten-free...you may occasionally hear from Mom on a something she just couldn't help but share, but even those can usually be made A-ok for us with a few jiggles and substitutions.

Let's eat!