5.31.2009

The Sirloin

Sirloin steak is a delicious cut that cooks up beautifully with little effort. Because of the cut and the marbelizing of the fat throughout the steak, it gets tender and juicy and is so very good.

Let's see, the way to make steak. For me, it has to be easy, and here's what I do to it. My picture shows my raw steak soaking in a marinade. I find this to give a more tender result. Thusly naming my GF recipe:


Marinated Steak

Making the marinade:
1/3 cup canola oil
1 TBSP vinegar
1 clove of garlic minced (or 1/2 tsp of powdered garlic)
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Meat Preparation:
Take a fork and poke lots of holes in the steak. Place meat in a large baggie or in a pan a little bit bigger than the steak. Pour liquid marinade over meat. Seal the baggie with no air in it so liquid is surrounding the steak. If using a pan, flip the meat alot to coat both sides regularly. Leave in marinade for at least 1/2 hour. But it will be much better if you leave it for 3-4 hours though!

Cooking:
Take to use your secret weapon! Heat a cast iron pan to a very hot temperature. If you have any rib sauce on reserve, put a little of that in the pan. Place steak on pan and sear both sides until they are well browned. Reduce the temperature to low and cover steak with foil. Cook for about 1-2 more minutes. Turn off heat, let rest for 5 minutes. Cut against any noticeable graining.


So when someone says, "...wanna have steak for dinner?" You can come back with a confident, "Yes Sir!"

5.29.2009

A Good Read

I am not a gluten expert by any means. I have not searched out books or feel qualified to say which one is better than which other one. There are several books out in the stores about the topic and I suppose that reading about the topic is better than not reading about it. However, when my sister wanted information, she found a book that was so very helpful in explaining what she needed to know. I have read it, and probably should go through it again.

THE GLUTEN CONNECTION by SHARI LIEBERMAN, PhD, CNS

That, my GF friends, is a good read.

5.27.2009

BBQ - but not really

A summer is complete when you dine on food from the backyard BBQ. Who can resist food with that smoky, crispy outside and the juicy inside. The heat stays out of the kitchen. Most of the time, at least at my house this is true, the hubby takes over and you get a break from cooking for the night!
Free Clipart Picture of Dad BBQing Burgers. Click Here to Get Free Images at Clipart Guide.com
On Memorial Day, we lit up the grill and made up some baby back ribs. Two and a half hours later, we had falling-off-the-bone tender BBQ ribs for dinner. Oh so good. The way I make them, you basically cover them with a spice rub, place them in a foil pouch, add some vital liquids and steam them for a couple hours. Then open the pouch and place them on the very hot grill to crisp up the outside. The really excellent thing about making them this way is, you have all the lucious, flavorful juice that they cook in. This juice can be boiled down and used as the best BBQ sauce you have ever tasted. Or you can pour it into a jar and refrigerated for later uses.

I usually choose to do the latter. I have stirred some of the juice in cooked rice. Pan fried hot dogs with some juice in the pan. But my fave is to use it with chicken! I wanted to make chicken tonight, so I decided to do it up in the good ol' oven. You will need the biggest gun in your pot and pan arsenal - the cast iron skillet. I have a 12" one and it steps food up from good to great. Don't have one? They are in the kitchen stores, the camping goods stores, the one stop mega marts. Go get one!

Check this out:



BBQ Oven Chicken

Chicken pieces
Juice from the BBQ'd ribs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat up a cast iron skillet to a high heat level. Take the grease from the juice and place it in the skillet (use the grease in place of oil and seasonings). Use enough grease to coat the pan lightly. Place the chicken pieces in the pan and turn to sear all sides. Remove from burner and cover pan with aluminum foil. Place pan on the bottom of oven (put it on a pizza stone set on the bottom of the oven, if you have one) and bake for 1/2 hour. Take skillet out of oven and turn pieces over. Put foil back over the chicken and bake for another 1/2 hour, or until pieces are fully cooked. Brush some juice over the meat for even more flavor and serve it up with lots of napkins!

If you don't have a grill, or just don't feel like using yours but still want the yummy BBQ effect, try this out. I think you will be glad you did!

5.26.2009

Garden growth

About 10 days ago, my father came over to build a raised garden bed for us as a gift for our anniversary. It was such a wonderful surprise and got filled with plants and seeds the very day it was completed!

Here's some of the progress:

Lettuce from plants


Carrots from seed with onion in the background


Beets from seed with cucumber from plants in the background


"Stringless" Beans from seed


I also planted tomato and pepper plants but they were pretty big already so I didn't show them.

I don't know what it is about it, but planting a seed and seeing it grow is amazing. The dead looking speck turns into a living, food-bearing plant. There is nothing with gluten here! It's easy to pick GF ingredients when they come from a garden!

5.25.2009

Summertime Salad No. 1

It's Memorial Day - summer is officially on! How can you get through summer without eating fresh potato salad?

Here's a fabulous GF recipe that I put together last year and have improved it even more. The red peels and the green parsley and chive look so pretty on your plate. It can't be easier or more delicious.



Summer Potato Salad

4-5 cooked and cooled red potatoes, diced (use canned ones if you're in a hurry)
1 heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise (adjust more or less to taste)
pinch of kosher salt
a few grinds of black pepper
a dash of red pepper
1 tsp. of fresh, chopped italian parsley
1 tsp. of fresh, sliced garlic chives

Mix together well. Chill and serve proudly.

5.24.2009

Pass the limburger cheese please

Every May, usually around Mother's Day, I get a week long allergy attack. The sneezing, the runny nose, the watery eyes, the upgrading to softest tissues I can find. There were a number of years where my Mom and my sisters and I would go to a Mother's day brunch together. The food spread was always wonderful. As we would eat, I would hear everyone talk about how marvelous the food was, but I could not share that joy. My allergies were so bad that I couldn't smell or taste anything less toxic than limburger cheese.
Free Photo of Limberger Cheese and Rye Bread. Click Here to Get Free Images at Clipart Guide.com
Yes, you could almost set your calendar to it. In an effort to not take medicine unless it was absolutely necessary, I tried herbal supplements. I can't say if they did or didn't work; they probably did something.

There was a funny thing about my allergies this year. I hardly got them. There was one Saturday where it seemed like the bomb went off. My eyes got itchy. My nose started running to the point where I had to stuff tissues in the nostrils just to keep from having to use them so much. "Well", I thought, "here we go with the allergies this year". I stuck to my guns about no medicine, put a pile of tissues on my night stand and went to bed. By the next day, it was done, and I am sure that the pollen is still in the air. My friends are all complaining about their symptoms.

The biggest change in my life over the last year and a half is the limited intake of food with gluten. Could this have a connection? I think it does. The less offenses your body has to ward off within itself, the more strength you have to repair yourself. It seems like pretty easy logic to me. We'll see how I fare next Mother's Day and whether I can smell the limburger cheese or not.

5.23.2009

The Deal

Almost as long as I can remember, my sister was really skinny. Some of you know what I'm talking about. This isn't perceived as a bad thing. Skinny has appeal. But when her physique landed her in the hospital, we all wanted answers. She was gluten intolerant. Come to find out, almost half of the people in my family are.

I am not an author, a doctor or a chef. I am just a regular person who wants to live a healthy life. I have not been diagnosed by anyone other than myself. I have done some reading and experimenting with my food and have found good results. I just want to share things that I do in my gluten free journey. My discoveries, recipes, thoughts, disappointments, struggles, shopping tips, successes. If I am going to do something, I need it to be simple! This site is a collection of GF done easy! Hopefully, something here will help someone out there.

So what is the deal with a Gluten Free diet? For my sister, it was a matter of life. For me, it's a choice. What is it for you?