Apr 26, 2015 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
I have never been a huge fan of smoky barbecue sauce or just straight up red BBQ sauce. So I developed a conglomeration that works in the interim … I may soon develop one from scratch but for now this one is GF and spicy, tangy, sweet and a lovely afterbite!
Bill’s BBQ Sauce
1 jar (298 g) Mr. Sauce Honey BBQ
2 tbsp (30 ml) Habanero Tabasco
1/2 cup (125 ml) spicy sweet mustard (a ground mustard is the best if possible)
1/2 cup (120 g) minced garlic
2 tsp (10 g) cilantro
Mix and enjoy!
Apr 1, 2015 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
The jar on the left is Habanero Jelly and on the right is the Jalapeno Jelly. The jelly should last for quite awhile – this jalapeno jelly was still good after three years. Be careful about preparation and sanitation though if you plan on keeping it that long.
When I was a young warthog, er, when I was a young boy, I loved Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. Grape was my favourite flavour. As I got older, it was a guilty pleasure at times, but of course that was all BCD. So as a guilty pleasure goes, it went out the window.
Of course PBJs are not the only way to enjoy jelly. And it definitely is not a great way to enjoy Pepper Jelly. This spicy sweet goodness goes amazingly well with cream cheese and bagels or a personal favourite is with cheese ball and crackers – obviously both the bagel and crackers would be GF!
Pepper Jelly
2 pounds (900 g) peppers (Habanero for really hot jelly or Jalapeno for a milder jelly)
2.5 cups (625 ml) apple cider vinegar
2 – 1.75 ounce (100 g) packages powdered pectin
10 cups (2.2 kg) sugar
- Wearing rubber gloves, take the stem off the top of peppers and puree the peppers as fine as possible in a food processor.
- Combine the puree and 4 cups water in a large non-corrodible pot and place over medium heat. When the liquid comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the hot puree into a jelly bag or a strainer lined with a dampened cheesecloth. Let the juice drip for an hour, stirring occasionally.
This would be the straining process. I didn’t bother with a cheesecloth because in this case I have a fine mesh colander that works just as well.
- Pour the strained juice into a non-corrodible pot; there should be approximately 4 cups. Add water equal to this amount. Add the vinegar and pectin, stir well.
- Bring to a full boil and add the sugar. Bring the contents to a boil that cannot be stirred down and stir for 1 minute.
- Immediately ladle the hot liquid into hot sterilized jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace, and seal. Refrigerate any jars that do not seal and use within 2 weeks. Note – if you don’t like the colour, you can add a little food colouring. That won’t alter the taste or texture.
Precautions:
Mar 11, 2015 | Desserts, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
This is about what it should look like once you’re ready to start cooling.
Typically a chocolate ganache is used to enrobe a cake in a sweet chocolate frosting that hardens into a smooth glossy shell. It’s really simple to make a ganache, making your cake look pretty and easy to decorate if that’s the way you want to go!
This recipe utilizes Bailey’s Irish Cream or any other Irish Cream instead of whipping (heavy) cream. Additionally if you decide to use cream, you could technically use any other type of chips such as white chocolate or butterscotch – just keep the proportions the same.
Irish Cream Ganache
3/4 cup (188 ml) Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 cup (180 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Heat the cream in a sauce pan until it just starts to boil. You’ll want to stir it regularly since you don’t want the cream to burn onto the bottom of the pan.
- Once it boils, add in the chips and remove from heat. Stir until the chips melt and the mixture is smooth.
- Give it a few minutes to cool and then pour over your cake!
Feb 2, 2015 | Appetizers, Egg Free, Nut Free
A long time ago, my wife loved to go to a chain restaurant in the States. This particular chain had a decent hot spinach dip but the closest one to us was about an hour away. Being the diligent and creative husband, I found a recipe to use and then altered it to fit my parameters.
As my wife does not eat spicy food – I have further enhanced and developed this to better suit my tastes. That said, if you don’t enjoy spice – why are you on this site? I mean you can trade out the Pepper Jack for Monterrey Jack cheese and 86 the chili flakes.
HS Spinach Dip
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) half-and-half
8 oz (225 g) grated Pepper Jack cheese
8 oz (250 g) light cream cheese
1 tsp (5 g) garlic powder
1 tbsp (15 g) chili flakes
1 1/2 tsp (8 ml) GF Worcestershire sauce
1.5 lbs (360 g) frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
4 green onions, chopped
- Bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat and add the Pepper Jack, cream cheese, garlic powder, Worcestershire and chili flakes. Continuously stir to prevent sticking until the cheeses melt.
- While slowly stirring, add the spinach and scallions. Stir until mixed and the spinach is wilted.
- Serve hot with Doritos. This could potentially go well as a sauce for pasta …
Jan 13, 2015 | Appetizers, Egg Free, Nut Free
Obviously pre-cooking – I think I ate the majority of these myself.
I recently had a friend that posted a pic of an infant drooling over bacon with a caption of “Love at First Sight”. My first reaction – maybe if it had been jalapenos. Second thought – Stuffed Jalapenos.
That said I love my recipe for Dragon Bites – bacon-wrapped, cheese-stuffed jalapenos. But I’ve found another recipe that rivals it in taste and fire!
Originally, this recipe called for Parmesan cheese and was nowhere near as spicy. I changed that and now these cheese and sausage stuffed jalapenos are equally as fantastic as the Dragon Bites with a lot less work …
Atomic Peppers
12 large jalapenos (about 3 inches long)
1 lb. (250 g) spicy GF sausage
8 oz. (250 g) cream cheese
8 oz. (225 g) Pepper Jack Cheese
1 tbsp (15 g) minced garlic
1 tbsp (15 g) crushed red peppers
1 green onion
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- While your sausage is frying up with your garlic and red peppers, wash and slice the peppers in half lengthwise so they form small boats.
- Drain your sausage and mix with your shredded cheese, diced green onions and cream cheese. You may have to get in with your hands to ensure that it mixes well.
- Spoon 1 large tablespoon into each boat and then cook for about 20 minutes or they just start to brown.
- Serve and enjoy!
Oct 26, 2014 | Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
I’ve found that sandwiches are not necessarily an easy feat to achieve with Celiac’s. Most people would say that’s a no-brainer since most bread has gluten. Yet, there are a ton of options for gluten-free bread, some are better than others. Unfortunately most of the good ones that are light in texture are super-small for a sandwich or vice-verse, large but dense.
So I’ve taken to making wraps. And with Celiac’s and NAFLD (look it up), I’ve got to try to cut back on the fat intake. As you might have guessed, most of the time, it’s a battle just to deal with the gluten free, throw in the fat free or light and you might as well throw away the taste. However, if you use cheese and other fatty ingredients sparingly you can lower the fat intake.
At the same time, I needed to add more fish into my diet. Major issue – I hate most seafood, which is why you will see few fishy recipes on this blog. Now that we’ve got that out of the way; here’s the one thing I will eat with tuna. It’s a simple tuna salad recipe for a sandwich/wrap with a few twists.
Cajun Tuna Wrap
2 small cans (240 g) tuna
1/2 red onions diced fine
1/4 cup (60 ml) mayo or salad dressing
1-2 tbsp (30-60 g) Cajun Seasoning
GF tortillas
shredded cheese
lettuce
tomato
flavoured cream cheese spread
- Mix the drained tuna, onions, mayo and seasoning.
- Make a layer of cream cheese as you base on the tortilla. The layer on a good portion of the tuna salad, shredded cheese, lettuce and tomato. Enjoy!
I have never been a huge fan of smoky barbecue sauce or just straight up red BBQ sauce. So I developed a conglomeration that works in the interim … I may soon develop one from scratch but for now this one is GF and spicy, tangy, sweet and a lovely afterbite!
