Oct 10, 2014 | Desserts, Egg Free, Nut Free
So as you might have guess from an earlier post, I currently live north of the border (American 
border into The Great White North). And that leads to not having one, but two of my favourite holidays – Thanksgiving! Or as I call it Turkey Day. For some reason, I almost never do turkey any other time of the year even though it’s one of two meals I look forward to in the fall.
Since I was diagnosed with Celiac’s there were a lot of things I had to give up. But I was determined that Turkey Day would not be one of them. Thus the Cajun Rice Stuffing and this recipe for a pumpkin trifle – again, not sure why I never do it any other time of the year. Maybe it’s ingrained that I would be cheating on Turkey Day? But I digress …
This was one of those things that I was determined that I would be able to have. My wife found a recipe and I altered it to fit into my GF lifestyle. And it rocks – thanks to those all important GF graham crackers! The good thing about this recipe is that it can be made either in one large batch or as individual servings.
GF Pumpkin Pie Trifle
16 oz, (440 g) GF Graham Crackers (such as S’moreables by Kinnikinnick Foods)
1/2 cup (125 g) butter
16 oz (500 g) cream cheese
2 cups (500 ml) pure pumpkin
1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla
1 cup (240 g) sugar
2 tbsp (30 g) pumpkin pie spice
2 tubs (30 oz) Cool Whip
- Crush your graham crackers before combining with the melted butter. I found that if you leave it with smaller chunks instead of just dust, that the desert actually has a nice texture. Layer the bottom of a cup with about 2 tbsp (or the trifle bowl with about half your base).
- Beat the cream cheese until smooth and then add all of the ingredients except your base and the Cool Whip. Once the ingredients are smooth add in about two/thirds of one tub of Cool Whip and beat until thoroughly mixed.
- Layer about 2 tbsp of the pumpkin mix and 2 tbsp of Cool Whip followed by another coat of the base and repeat with the pumpkin and Cool Whip. If you’re doing the trifle bowl, use about half of the pumpkin on the bottom and the other half on the top. You could be more ambitious and do multiple layers, but that’s up to you and how thin you want those layers.
- If you have enough crumbs left or you want to save some to put on the top, the effect is nice.
- Chill and serve. You can make this ahead of time, it will be good for even a few days before serving.
Sep 22, 2014 | Egg Free, Nut Free, Side Dishes
Up here north of the border, Thanksgiving is around the corner. And that is a fine reason for me to celebrate as Thanksgiving was my favourite (eating) holiday in the States. It became an even bigger celebration for me after I got married and was able to start eating, I mean, celebrating twice in one year!
One of the best things about Thanksgiving dinner was the dressing. I started using my mother’s recipe for dressing when I first started doing the turkey – unfortunately, I can’t make biscuits. So I started using my mother-in-law’s recipe with bread. Then I got diagnosed with Celiac’s and I realized that I would have to figure something else out.
Fortunately that meant that I was able to do it hot and spicy since I would be the only one eating it. So I went with Cajun and rice – and lots of other fun stuff thrown in. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have …
Cajun Rice Stuffing
2 cup (480 g) long grain white rice
1 medium red onion
2 stalks celery
2 tbsp (28 g) minced garlic
2 tbsp (28 g) butter
1 tbsp (15 g) poultry seasoning
1 tbsp (15 g) sage
2 tbsp (28 g) Cajun Seasoning
1 Granny Smith apple
1/2 cup (120 g) bacon pieces
1/4 cup (60 ml) dry sherry
- Cook your rice while you saute the diced onion and apple with everything but the sherry.
- Once the onions are translucent add the sherry and cook for a few minutes to let it thicken.
- Add the rice, stirring thoroughly. Stuff the bird and go!
Sep 14, 2014 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
I love pork – prepared in just about anyway but ham and regular barbecue. Sorry Mom – but they may have ruined those “treats” for me. So pretty much any other kind of bacon or pork I will inhale.
And I recently developed a new way of doing a pork roast after my wife starting buying beef roasts in their own gravy, which contained – you guessed it – glutenized gravy. So I had to come up with an alternative that in my book far surpasses the other roast in not only taste but in being gluten free!
Caribbean Pork Roast
3-4 lb pork loin/roast
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
1/4 cup (60 g) Jerk Seasoning
1 large red onion
1/4 cup (60 ml) spicy sweet mustard
1-2 cups (~.5 l) cooking sherry
- Heat your olive oil in a stainless steel saute pan while you rub down your pork with the jerk
seasoning. Once the oil is hot, you want to sear the pork on all sides sealing in the juices – should develop a nice browned skin at about 3-4 minutes per side. Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees
- Saute the julienned red onions in the drippings after you pull the pork out. While the onions cook, brush the mustard over the entire roast. Let it rest for about ten minutes.
- While the roast is resting and after your onions are done, add the sherry to the pan to deglaze. You can add a little butter if you want to make the sauce richer.
- Once the sauce has thickened a bit or your 10 minutes rest is up, add the pork to the pan and put it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until it’s at about 145 degrees internally in the thickest part of the roast.
- Serve the roast and sauce over rice and enjoy!
Aug 21, 2014 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
As I mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of traditional barbecue. But I love some tender juicy ribs and done with an amazing sauce – like my Cola Cajun BBQ Sauce – you can’t go wrong! This recipe really is all about the preparation rather than just the sauce …
Slow Ribs
Rack of Ribs – however many you need
Lowry’s Seasoning Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Barbecue sauce
- The night before you cook your ribs, you will need to prep them. Take your ribs and add generous portions of the dry seasoning rubbing them in.
- Wrap them in aluminum foil with simple fold and tuck. Wrap them a second time with the “open” side down to help trap in the juices.
- The next morning preheat your oven to about 175 degrees or frankly you could just throw them into the cold oven, preferably in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet that can catch any extra juices that might escape.
- Leave them alone for at least eight hours, up to about 10.
- Take them out of the oven. Unwrap them carefully.
- Slather both sides with a good barbecue sauce like my Cola Cajun BBQ and let them cook for about 20 more minutes – long enough for the sauce to glaze on the ribs
- Take them out and serve. Beware – the bones will literally slide out of the ribs. So it would pay to get some nicer ribs without all the fat and extra sinuous bones.
Aug 21, 2014 | Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
So I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of regular tomato barbecue sauce. I really enjoy more of the mustard sauce, obviously kicked up. That said, I experimented a while back on a cola barbecue sauce and really hit it out of the park. So here’s one of my favourites barbecue sauces.
Cola Cajun BBQ Sauce
1 cup (240 ml) GF barbecue sauce (something like Mr. Spice‘s Honey BBQ would work)
1 can cola
1 red onion
2 tbsp (30 g) minced garlic
2 tbsp (30 g) Cajun Seasoning
1 tbsp (15 g) chili flakes
1 tbsp (15 g) butter
- This is really simple. Dice your onions and fry them up with everything but the barbecue sauce and the cola.
- When the onions are translucent, pour in the cola and the sauce. Mix thoroughly and let simmer for at least half an hour to an hour – depending on how thick you want the sauce to be. The longer it simmers the thicker it will become.
Aug 17, 2014 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
Caribbean Jerk Seasoning
This is obviously a dry seasoning. It can be used as a rub or to season meat. As a note, you will need to make a batch of the Cajun Seasoning to make this recipe.
1 tsp (5 g) dry mustard
1 tsp (5 g) dehydrated onion
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) cinnamon
2 tsp (10 g) cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) ground allspice
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) dried thyme
1 tsp (5 g) seasoning salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) turmeric
1 tsp (5 g) Cajun Seasoning
border into The Great White North). And that leads to not having one, but two of my favourite holidays – Thanksgiving! Or as I call it Turkey Day. For some reason, I almost never do turkey any other time of the year even though it’s one of two meals I look forward to in the fall.
