Black Eyed Peas with Pork and Greens – Good Luck with This!

I love the New Year's day tradition of eating beans and greens to bring luck and prosperity. This video was posted a few years back, and features black-eyed peas, and not one, but three kinds of pork. How can that not bring good fortune?

This is a very old tradition, and I don't mean colonial America old, I mean really, really old. There are records of black-eyed peas being eaten for good luck on New Year's Day all the way back to ancient Babylonia. It must have worked, because look at all the good fortune that has befallen the middle east since then. Okay, maybe that's not the best example.

This video recipe is my variation on something called "Hoppin' John," which is black-eyed peas, rice, and pork stewed together, usually served with some kind of greens and cornbread. Speaking of which, I highly suggest clicking on my cornbread recipe video and doing this thing right.

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! May your 2011 be filled with much happiness, and lots of new adventures. Stay safe, party hard, and as always, enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 pound black-eyed peas, soaked overnight
3 strips bacon, sliced in 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound pork neck bones
6 oz smoked ham, diced
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
3 cloves chopped garlic
6 cups water
1 (10-oz can) diced tomato with green chilis
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
cayenne to taste
1 tsp dried thyme
1 large bunch kale, leaves torn
cooked rice

Hot Artichoke Dip Recipe - Gluten-Free + Vegan

This hot artichoke dip is worthy of a party. Gluten-free and vegan yum.

I wasn't sure I had another recipe post in me -- before the year of 2010 turns into a pumpkin and rolls backward into the past. I thought I was going out with a year-end Top Ten Gluten-Free Recipes post, catching up with all you gluten-free  lovelies again in 2011. I thought I was done. Spent. Empty as a pocket, to quote a certain singer-songwriter. So much for assumptions.

Turns out my fevered brain wasn't done with 2010. It spun off in party mode as soon as I heard that my oldest son was officially engaged. He popped the question with true romantic flare. On a wine train. In the rain. In Napa Valley. And she said yes. The ring fit. People on the train applauded. It doesn't get much better than this. To witness your son's heart. Blooming.

Your misty-eyed gluten-free goddess is going to be a mother-in-law.

And so. The year closes. I make a mug of chamomile tea and reflect upon the deepest joys of motherhood, turning their myriad facets toward the window light above the kitchen sink stacked with breakfast plates, cups, and spoons. Learning to love with open arms and a tender opinion, unconditional. This floats to the top of all other joys. The thick cream of it. A layered, rich reward. To love a son expands your heart beyond measure. To see him love, and inspire love, is the most beautiful working of magic. 

Don't you think?


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Doing the Limbo

For me, this time between Christmas and New Years is the laziest week of the year. Many are off work, and those that aren't are probably doing a half-assed job anyway. Generally people are tired, distracted, and really not into any heavy thinking. This is exactly how I feel. 

Anyway, to help make up for this just-phoned-it-in post, I will say that I have so many exciting things planned for the new year, including a video on how to do your own sous vide steaks at home (my first test pictured here), using absolutely no special equipment. Spoiler alert: it was awesome. Stay tuned!

When it Comes to Beef, I Usually Leave Wellington Alone

Photo (c) David Blaine's Flickr Photostream

I get lots of requests for Beef Wellington, especially around the holidays. In case you don't know, Beef Wellington is a whole tenderloin of beef, covered in foie gras pate, coated with a rich mushroom paste, wrapped in buttery puff pastry and baked to a golden brown. Sound good doesn't it? That's the problem.

The idea of Beef Wellington is amazing, and the aforementioned list of ingredients is spectacular together, but I've always considered the actual dish more of a risky showpiece than anything else.

I can sear a filet mignon steak, top it with mushrooms and foie gras, serve it on or near some perfectly baked puff pastry, et viola! That way I can control each component of the dish. When you take the same ingredients and try to perfectly cook them wrapped in puff pastry, you're adding significantly to the degree of difficulty.

Having said that, I'll admit it really does make an impressive special occasion dinner centerpiece. So, maybe I'll throw logic to the wind and try and film one soon. It won't be before New Years Eve, so to hold you over, here is the irrepressible Gordon Ramsey doing his Christmas version. Enjoy!

New Year's Eve Menu Idea: Stuffed and Rolled Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Pan Jus

Yesterday's Pork Diablo recipe reminded me of this Stuffed and Rolled Pork Tenderloin recipe I posted over three years ago. This is one of my favorite recipes on the entire blog, and when I saw it only had 14 comments I realized that many of you might not have seen it yet.

It's funny to see and hear how the videos have evolved. This is some very early work, and was shot with a tiny web cam. There's no music, the sound sucks, and the video rambles on for over 8 blurry minutes. That said, there is a certain charm to it, and I got a kick out of watching it today.

Like I said, the recipe is a favorite, and one of my go-to special occasion choices. It looks very cool, is relatively easy to pull off, and scaled up would work nicely for a large table. To view the recipe, click here to go to the original post. Enjoy!

Please Note: Updated internal temperature for this is 155 degrees F. (I like to go higher than 145 because of the stuffing). The video says  internal temperature of 165, but I've since gotten my head right.

Top Ten Gluten-Free Recipes for 2010: My Faves

From cake to quinoa - my year's best gluten-free recipes

The annual ritual of creating top ten lists has commenced. Critics are choosing their top ten movies, editors have picked their Top Ten Books. Fashionistas have declared the year's best and worst trends of 2010 (jeggings- love 'em or hate 'em?). Do I dare leap into the scuffle and pluck ten gluten-free recipes as the year's best? And if so -- just how, exactly -- does one choose the golden top ten? The best of the best. Do I do as I did last year and let stats decide? (Might seem rather lazy, to repeat that process.) Or do I rely on my personal and often quirky preferences? (Could be controversial, especially if I was honest and chose peanut butter on ryeless rye bread toast as my number one.) Perhaps I should make a game of it and draw names from a hat. Randomness is appealing, in a way. (Though unsatisfying.)

I'll just do it.

I'll be bold. I'll be opinionated. I'll pick my g-free favorites from this year's recipes. Perhaps I need to define my criteria, though. How do you choose a favorite among the dozens you've created in a year? I'm proud of each recipe. After all, I enjoyed them enough to photograph them in all their gluten-free glory (unless, sadly, they were not photogenic, and that, Dear Reader, is a loss to the blog). And every recipe I shared passed the family taste test or they wouldn't stand a chance of appearing on Gluten-Free Goddess. You don't hear about the runner-ups, or the flat out failures that left your intrepid goddess weeping and gnashing her teeth. [Not really. I'm not the weeping kind. I swear like a character in Deadwood and take deadly aim at the trash bin.]

My criteria, then? Simple. A favorite recipe would be a recipe I'd make again. And share with company.

So with that in mind, away we go.

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Pork Tenderloin "Diablo" – The Devil is in the Details

This roasted pork recipe is the first meat dish I remember learning in culinary school. It was demonstrated by a German chef at the Hotel Saranac, and when I asked why it was called "Diablo," he said because that means "devil." Um, thanks. 

Eventually I learned that "Diablo," referred to the old-school culinary terminology for something spicy being, "deviled." Back then entrée's had names. Dishes like Beef Wellington, Clams Casino, Steak Diane, Lobster Thermidor, and this Pork Diablo, would be proudly displayed across menus in bold font, followed by the chef's brief description.

Nowadays, naming a dish just isn't as fashionable, so all we get is the description, and a lot of it. Maybe we're compensating for no longer giving the recipe an official title, but these descriptions tend to go on forever, and give way more detail than necessary, including what farm the Brussels sprouts came from, and at what angle the pork will be sliced.

One of these days I fully expect to see, "rosemary sprig was picked left-handed, by a guy named Pete." I hope I don't sound too curmudgeonly, but I kind of prefer the way we used to do it. There was a bit more formality to it, and just the right amount of mystery. Today's menu descriptions don't leave anything to the imagination. [Insert burlesque analogy here].

Regardless of how you choose to communicate it on your menu, this is a great pork recipe. Mustard is a classic with pork, but when you add the extra zing of horseradish and cayenne, and then smooth it out with a little cream and butter, well, it's devilishly delicious.

As I mentioned in the video, the great thing about pork tenderloin is it's one of those versatile cuts of meat that's fancy enough for a New Year's Eve dinner party, but also works equally well as a simple and quick weeknight meal. 

By the way, if you've watched our older pork tenderloin videos, you'll notice I used to cook the meat to a higher internal temperature. Since all the old cookbooks say to cook pork to 185 degrees F., I felt like a real renegade only cooking it to 165. Now, I'm a believer that somewhere closer to 145 is perfect.

And by "perfect," I mean juicy, flavorful, and able to be cut with a fork, and you'll see in the final climactic scene. I hope you give this Pork "Diablo" recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients: (make 2-3 portions)

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon extra hot horseradish

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons cream

1 teaspoon fresh chives

1 tablespoon cold butter

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake

Gluten-Free vegan pumpkin cheesecake- creamy and dairy-free.

Darling. It's Monday. Post Boxing Day. And yes, I'm going to be bad. I'm not going to write about Hoppin' John or some healthy New Year's bean soup with kale.  I am going to tease you. I am going to tempt you. I am going to revel in one more dessert recipe before the final eve of 2010 -- a rich and creamy pumpkin cheesecake recipe that is worthy of a party. One last hurrah before the pale glare of January dawns in all her cold and sober glory. One last indulgent dessert before I gingerly step on the reality check scale. And sigh.

Because I've noticed my jeans have shrunk again. That familiar jolly pie roll affectionately known as Doris is rolling her merry way up and out of my favorite roomy cargo pants. But is this the week to start counting calories? Is this the week to shun dessert in favor of lettuce? I can answer that. The answer is no. As in N. As in O. No. Nope. Not gonna happen.

If you've got your own alarming version of Doris making her annual appearance around your middle, don't worry. There will be plenty of time in 2011 for detoxing and courting virtue with cabbage soup, recipes that will encourage our collective Doris's -- or would the plural be Dori? -- to skedaddle. I promise. I'll be first in line with smoothie and cleansing soup recipes come January. But this week? Well. Not so much.

Because there's one more cake to share in 2010. And it's cheesecake. And no one will suspect it is vegan and gluten-free. (I won't tell, if you won't.)


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Merry Christmas and Khajoor Milk shake, The Richest Girl...

O! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way! O! What fun it is to ride, In a one-horse open sleigh, hey! Dashing through the snow. In a one-horse open sleigh. O're the fields we go, Laughing all the way, hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way! O! What fun it is to ride, In a one-horse open sleigh.

A yummy and delicious Date (khajoor) shake. Filled with the healthy flavor of dates, this nutritious shake provides you a rich diet. To enrich your Ramadan with the benefits of date-fruit, try this shake right away.

Dates or Khajoor are valuable as medicine for their tonic effect. Being easily digested, they are very useful for supplying energy and repairing waste. Milk in which clean and fresh dates have been boiled is a very nourishing and restorative drink to children and adults alike, especially during convalescence.

Ingredients:

4-5 pieces of khajoor (dates)

150 ml simple milk

3-4 kaju (cashews)

4-5 almond

1-tbsp sugar

Method:

Step 1: Deseed the khajoor and cut dry- fruit in to small pieces.

Step 2: Add milk in khajoor pieces.

Step 3: Soak khajoor for half an hour in milk.

Step 4: In a blender put khajoor and quarter portion of milk and blend it to a thick cream.

Step 5: Add another milk and sugar, and blend properly.

Step 6: Place it in bowl and add chopped dry-fruit in it.

Step 7: Keep them refrigerated for 2 hours, If you like chilled otherwise serve in room temperature.

Step 8: Pour into glass and spread kaju-badam on the top.

The Richest Girl

One day, One girl was wandering in the forest thinking about and

missing his beloved.

Santa was looking down upon the earth looking for a soul to torment.

He saw girl wandering alone in the forest and flew down to meet him.

Santa said: “Why you, I have been looking for you”.

A startled Girl asked: “What do you want?”

Santa said: “What do I want?, Girl, please, I have a wonderful offer for YOU”.

Girl replied: “Thanks, but I am not interested”.

Santa said: “Why Girl, you haven’t even heard what I have to offer. I could make you very wealthy!!”

Girl replied: “You don’t say”.

Santa said: “Yes, I will make you quite wealthy! You will be rich beyond your dreams!”

Girl replied: “Excuse me if I sound suspicious, but there wouldn’t happen to be a catch?”

Santa said: “Girl I am offering you so much!! All you have to do is give up your love for you and I will make you rich beyond your dreams.”

Girl Smiled.

Santa saw the smile and said: “See Girl, I knew you would like my offer.”

Girl smile broadened and she replied: “You don’t understand. Santa, I am Not interested in your offer. With my friend LOVE, I ALREADY AM rich Girl beyond my dreams.”

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas!

Ornament Photo (c) Elin B's Flickr Photostream

Michele and I are heading up to Bodega Bay today for Christmas with the family, but before we do, we wanted to wish all of you who celebrate, a very Merry Christmas!

I hope you'll also be surrounded by loved ones, and of course, lots of great food. The holiday table is the perfect reminder of what an amazing effect home cooking can have on the people around you.

We'll be taking a little break from the blog until Monday (I may actually try to go a whole day without looking at email, but we'll see about that one). Have fun, play nice, travel safe, and as always, enjoy!!

Brussels Sprouts Roasted with Cipollini Onions – Warning: Takes Longer than 60 Seconds

As many of you know, I also do recipe videos for About.com, but what you don't know, and would probably never guess, is that out of all the recipes I've produced for them, the most popular is a Brussels sprouts dish!

It's called 60-Second Brussels Sprouts, and you can see the original post here. As the name suggests, the recipe calls for a super-fast sear-and-serve approach. Here, we're at the other end of the spectrum. These actually get cooked twice, and for a much longer time.

The secret here is a quick blanching in boiling salted water, and then 15 or 20 minutes in a really hot oven. The searing heat and natural goodness of the vegetables do most of the work, so nothing more than a little brown butter and seasoning are needed.

This would make a very nice side dish to your holiday feast, and I can't think of a main course, especially one made from some type of succulent animal, that this wouldn't pair wonderfully with. If you can't find the Cipollini onions, just use pearl onions, or you can just leave them out altogether.

By the way, the Brussels sprouts only need a couple minutes blanching to prepare them for the oven, but the Cipollini onions should be cooked almost to the point of being tender before being roasted. You want that nice mellow, sweet onion flavor, not something sharp and jarring to the palette.

I hope if you have more that 60 seconds, you'll give these a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts

1/2 pound Cipollini or pearl onions

2 tablespoons butter

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

10 Vegetarian Christmas Recipes

Here are a hand-picked few of my favorite gluten-free vegetarian recipes.

Winter Solstice- with a spectacular lunar eclipse- has blessed us with a turning point. Daylight now grows longer inch by inch. Or is that minute by wintry minute? In spirit, I suspect, it is both. Christmas is almost here, and the season celebrating rebirth, light, and sliding into credit card debt is in full swing. Carolers are caroling. Gift wrappers are gift wrapping. Egg noggers are nogging. The shiny New Year crouches right around the corner. And recipes are flooding my in-box for... ham? Roast beef? Rack of lamb? Wait a duck fat glistening minute, here.

Where are the vegetarian Christmas recipes?

I can't be the only person not forking a slab of meat on Christmas day. I can't be the single solitary soul who doesn't treasure bacon fat like it's a princess tiara. I'm not alone in my imaginings of a fresh and healthy vegan Christmas dinner--- am I?

Okay. Okay. I get it. I honestly do. I realize I'm in the minority here. That to most folks celebrating the winter holidays in all their myriad and nuanced diversity, meat is the centerpiece of celebration. I acknowledge that. I even accept that. Just because I've been a vegetarian 78% of my life doesn't mean I bury my head in the sand of denial. I cope. I deal. I go with the flow.

But just so you know? The UN thinks vegetarianism is not only a cool idea, it may be necessary to save the planet. So here's ten of my favorite vegetarian and vegan recipes for Christmas. With love.


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Take a Little Break from Christmas Shopping and Vote!

You're out there shopping, stressed, tired, hungry, and at your wit's end. Why not take a break, and go vote in the 2011 Tasty Award's Viewer's Choice Award? How will this help you? It won't, but it would be really cool if you did it anyway.

As some of you may know, I'm nominated in the "Home Chef in a Series" category, so if you would like to help, please click here to vote! It's the fifth category. Thank you so much!

A Christmas Lasagna

It only took about 300 food wishes before it finally came true, but here is my favorite lasagna. Since this is such a traditional Italian-American Christmas recipe, I figured what better time to post it?

By the way, this is simply my rendition of Italian-American lasagna, and not intended to claim any type of superiority, authenticity, or other such nonsense. If your Nonna uses fresh pasta, or insists on a béchamel, then bless her heart, but that's not how this half-Italian rolls.

There are only two things you need for great lasagna; a thick, rich, super-meaty meat sauce, and lots of it; and a ricotta filling where only the finest cheeses are welcomed. For the sauce I love a combination of half Italian sausage and half lean ground beef. I also like lots of sauce.

If you use too much sauce, the worst that can happen is you have a plate of pasta with sauce, but if you don't use enough, you end up with dry lasagna, and there's nothing sadder than dry lasagna.

For the cheese mixture I like the holy trinity of whole milk ricotta, fresh mozzarella, and Reggiano-Parmigiano. If you use the real stuff, your lasagna will taste better. I also use twice as much ricotta as most recipes, which works great here since I use twice the meat as well. Hey, this is Christmas lasagna after all. Enjoy!

Ingredients (for a deep 15" x 10" lasagna pan):

For the meat sauce:

1 pound Italian sausage

1 1/2 pound lean ground beef

8 oz mushrooms, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

6 cups marina sauce

1/2 cup water

Note: depending on the seasoning of your sausage, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of an Italian dried herb blend.

For the cheese filling:

2 egg, beaten

2 lbs ricotta cheese

8 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed

2/3 cup freshly grated Reggiano-Parmigiano

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

big pinch of cayenne

The rest:

1 lb lasagna noodles

8 oz mozzarella cheese, torn in small pieces

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese to top

My Favorite Gluten-Free Winter Recipes

Warm up with cozy gluten-free recipes.

Celebrate Winter

Cozy up and find sustenance with my updated collection of winter recipes, from classic comfort food like gluten-free mac and cheese, to nourishing slow-cooked stews and hearty healing soups that warm you body and soul. From cider roasted vegetables and turkey enchiladas to holiday goodies like Flourless Chocolate Cake, you'll find plenty of winter favorites to keep you well fed.

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It's Time for Michele's Famous Christmas Gingerbread Cake

My wife Michele makes this great gingerbread cake every Christmas, and in addition to being quite delicious, it's really simple and would be a perfect item to bring to any holiday party.

It has a very simple lemon glaze on top, but also works nicely topped with lemon curd, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

This has been posted previously, and here is the original post in case you'd like some more information. Enjoy!

Click here for Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Glaze Recipe.
Photo (c) Flickr user terren in Virginia

This Spaghetti Aglio e Olio Recipe (Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil) Almost Left Me Speechless!

I hope this video recipe for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio looks better than it sounds! A fairly minor cold led to a few days of semi-laryngitis, but I just couldn't wait any longer, so I summoned up my best Phyllis Diller impersonation and went for it. Like Phyllis always said, "the show must go on!"

Spaghetti aglio e olio is about as primal a pasta dish as there is. This is easily the most popular spaghetti recipe in Italy, and if you'll pardon the probably-annoying-to-Italians analogy, the comfort food equivalent to our "mac and cheese."

This is a very simple recipe – in fact, the recipe is much easier to make than pronounce. You know a recipe name is hard to say when you can't even come up with a respectable phonetic spelling. It's something close to "ah-leoh-oh-leoh." Give it a couple tries, and if you can't do it, feel free to just call it garlic spaghetti.

Anyway, this is my version (no two spaghetti aglio e olio recipes are alike), and I think it's pretty true to the classic method. The key is slowly toasting the garlic slices to a perfect golden-brown in the olive oil. If it's too light, you don't get the full flavor, and if it's too dark, it gets bitter. My advice? Do it perfectly. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pound dry spaghetti

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1/2 cup olive oil (note: I prefer a regular olive oil for this recipe, as opposed to a strongly flavored extra virgin olive oil)

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (highly recommend Parmigiano-Reggiano)

*It's not traditional, but for extra richness add 1 tablespoon of butter when you toss with the cheese.

Why Fried Gnocchi is a Bad Idea

They say timing is everything, and that was certainly the case this morning. Due to a blur of licensing contracts, book proposals, travel arrangements, and other less-than-enjoyable administrative duties, I was in serious need of a chuckle. Well, this video sent to me via @mysticl on Twitter sure took care of that! I hope you love this guy's laugh as much as I did. This is from Webstaurantstore's YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Couve Recipe

Couve is a healthy side dish that goes well with most meals. The kale, onions, and garlic are all rich in vitamins and nutrients. In addition, couve is easy and economical to prepare. Try couve with picanha, ropas vieja, or carnitas.

Ingredients:
1 pound of kale or collard greens
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
4 tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

1. Rinse the kale in water. Then remove the stems. Roll the leaves tightly together and cut into strips. Set strips aside for later.
   
2. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onions and garlic. Cook until onions become clear and translucent in color.
4. Add the kale to the skillet. Toss the kale to coat the leaves. Cook the kale until it is tender but not overcooked (about 4 to 5 minutes).
   

Brasil