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 19, 2014 | Entrees
There’s this place in Georgia (Atlanta and beyond) that has fantastic pizza. One of my favourites 
from there was a Caribbean Jerk Chicken. Now obviously, I don’t know how they made theirs and since I’m Reluctantly Gluten Free, I can’t have normal pizza crust. Therefore, I have to improvise and this is how you put it all together!
RGF Jerk Chicken Pizza
1 recipe Pizza Crust
1 recipe Pizza Sauce
1 lb BLSL chicken thighs
1 large red onion
Jerk Seasoning
8 thick slices Provolone cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Pepper Jack cheese
- Make your dough and sauce before you cook the toppings.
- Cook the diced chicken and julienned red onions along with an ample portion of the Jerk Seasoning.
- When the pizza crust has been flipped and your toppings and sauce are done, you can start to assemble. On top of the crust in this order, spread out the Provolone to cover the crust, add sauce, a thin layer of shredded Mozzarella, the chicken and onions (strained) and then top with shredded Pepper Jack.
- Cook for about 10-12 minutes to ensure that the crust is done.
Aug 17, 2014 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
Beyond the dough, there are two other main components of pizza – your sauce and your toppings. If you’ve got two out of three down pat, then the toppings should be a piece of GF pizza pie! And I have it on good authority that my sauce is one of the best things about my pizza. So here’s the recipe for your taste buds’ pleasure!
Bill’s Pizza Sauce
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 large red onion
2 tomatoes
2 tbsp (28 g) minced garlic
1 tbsp (15 g) oregano
1 tbsp (15 g) pepper flakes
2 tsp (10 g) basil
1 tsp (5 g) parsley
1 tsp (5 g) marjoram
- Dice all the veggies and add everything except the tomato sauce and paste to a saucepan with a little olive oil. Cook on medium high until the onions are translucent and soft.
- Add the sauce and paste, stir and continue to cook on medium for about an hour or so. Add about a quarter cup of water to thin out the sauce a bit.
For Spaghetti sauce, use two cans of tomato sauce and add ground beef or ground Italian sausage. Serve over GF pasta of your choice!
Aug 17, 2014 | Baking, Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
Everyone loves pizza! Unfortunately, the best pizza dough recipes out there (either online or in restaurants) typically call for high gluten flour, mainly due to gluten being the best binder for the dough. And since most of us have had to cut gluten out altogether, then that doesn’t work.
So many of you have probably tried the GF pizza options that are out there. And like me, if you’ve ever had a good thick pizza crust, then you have been sadly disappointed in the options that are out there. Before I was diagnosed, I had a really good crust recipe that was light and airy with a lot of flavour. I tried it out recently with GF flour and it at least produced a thicker crust than those other paper thin options. I will continue to experiment and try to pinpoint improvements and other options.
Pizza Crust
3 cups (675 g) GF flour with Xanthan Gum
1/2 cup (120 g) Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp (15 g) oregano
3 tbsp (45 g) sugar
1 tsp (5 g) salt
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup (250 ml) milk
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
1/4 cup (63 g) butter
olive oil
- Combine about 2 1/2 cups of flour with the other dry ingredients up to the yeast, mixing well.
- In a small pot, bring the rest of the ingredients up to a temperature of 120 degrees. That it just about before it boils but to be certain, use a candy thermometer to verify the temperature.
- Slowly pour the hot milk, water and butter into the flour mixture and mix together until it starts to become sticky. Pour the mixture onto a floured countertop and then slowly add in a little bit of flour until the mixture seems more like a small ball than a small puddle. Don’t add too much flour because your dough will be very heavy then.
- Preheat your pizza stone in the oven at 450 degrees.
- Basically when you start the dough it will be very rough and tend to want to fall apart since there is no gluten to help bind it. What you want to do is knead your dough and ensure that all the ingredients are mixed well.
- To knead your dough, put both hands on the ball and push forward with your palms like you were almost trying to flatten out the end of the ball. Fold the mixture back over the flattened part so that it’s like a ball again and repeat. Each time you repeat this make sure that you turn the dough so you are not just flattening the same side each time. A tip on keeping the dough from sticking to your fingers and the counter is to keep the area dusted with flour.
- Pinch off a small portion of it about half the size of an egg. Using your fingers spread the dough into a small disc rotating it until it is thin in the middle. If you can do this without actually creating a hole in the dough and you can see light through the thin membrane then your dough to proof.
- Unfortunately your dough will not rise that much considering the lack of gluten. That said, put the dough ball in a oiled bowl and let it proof for about 15-20 minutes.
- Take your dough ball and spread it out carefully on the stone. Make a pizza shape and then put it in the oven for about five minutes without the toppings.
- Flip your dough, dress it and let it cook for another 7-10 minutes. The dough will look a little dark once you flip it, but this will help for the dough to cook throughout after you load your pizza with toppings.
Aug 14, 2014 | Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
Full Meal Deal Burritos
This recipe is actually a two-fer. A long time ago (about 15 years ago), in a galaxy far, far away (Roswell, GA that is), my wife and I were newlywed and living on our own. Though my wife is originally from Canada, she liked the South of the Border stuff – just a little Anglicized. So she introduced me to her recipe for burritos.
And from there as I normally did, I altered it a tad. So in this recipe post, you will get her “altered” recipe and my spicier version. I’m sure you’re all aware by now that I typically cook two meals when I cook dinner for the family – one for my love and my kids, and one spicy version for me! In this particular recipe, we usually use about 1.5 pounds of hamburger and accompanying ingredients, which I divide up after cooking. So the recipe mixes will reflect the 1/2 and 1/2 proportions. Both can be GF as well.
Cindy’s Burrito Mix
This would be the “non-spicy” version. The spicier version basically uses more authentic Mexican spices and a GF Wing sauce rather than the tomato soup.
3/4 lb hamburger
1/2 onion
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 tbsp (15 g) minced garlic
1 can GF tomato soup
1 tbsp (15 g) mustard
1 tsp (5 g) sugar
1 tbsp (5 ml) Worcestershire sauce (GF)
1 tsp (5 g) chili powder
- Cook the hamburger, diced onions, corn and garlic together until done.
- Add in the seasonings mix well and fry up until it’s warm throughout.
Bill’s Burrito Mix
Spicy joy in a pan…
3/4 lb hamburger
1/2 onion
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 tbsp (15 g) minced garlic
1/4 cup (60 ml) Mr. Spice Wing Sauce (GF)
1 tbsp (15 g) cumin
1 tbsp (15 g) cayenne pepper
1 tsp (5 g) cilantro
1 tsp (5 g) garlic
A healthy dash of Habanero Tabasco
- Repeat steps 1-2 found above.
- To make the burrito, I use Udi’s GF Plain Tortillas, layered with shredded Pepper Jack cheese, a row of tater tots (dusted with Lowry’s Seasoning Salt), a row of my burrito mix and finally another layer of marble cheddar. Nuke it to melt the cheese and then add diced tomatoes and ranch.
Pre-rollin’ and lookin’ good!
- Since most GF tortillas are a lot less pliable, you will typically not be able to roll it like a normal burrito and have to do the roll with open ends to be eaten with fork and knife. Oh well, you win some you lose some – I was just glad I found tortillas that didn’t taste like wax paper!
Aug 10, 2014 | Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
This is NOT your typical steakhouse faire!
Fair warning – I’m going to generalize here. Every guy loves steak! And the interesting part is every guy has a specific way that they like steak and it almost never can vary in the way that it is prepared. I like steak done a couple of ways, but this one has to be my fave – my Steak Ranchero.
Most self respecting guys will tell you that the best way to cook a steak is over open flame and for it to be eaten with no other garnish than maybe some A-1 or the such. I’m calling bull. I have a friend 
of mine who bucked the trend saying that he didn’t like steak much – until he tried mine. It’s all about the prep too.
Steak Ranchero
1 large Ribeye
generous helping of Mexican Seasoning and minced garlic
1 red onion
4 oz (125 g) or more of Pepper Jack (or Marble Cheddar)
tomatoes
- Jacard your steak. (A jacard is an instrument of tenderizing that utilizes thin blades in a row that you push down onto the steak. It cuts the tendons in the steak letting the steak breath if you will – in other words, when subjected to heat it won’t clench up.)
- Cook the steak in a frying pan with the onions and seasonings, low and slow. By doing this, the onions will cook in the steak juices and you don’t lose all of that good flavour. And don’t overcook it. Since you Jacarded it, if you overcook it (ie anything over medium) it will be dry, even with the onions.
Plate steak, then shredded cheese, fried onions and then diced tomatoes. This steak goes really well with BTBTs!
Remember to shred your own cheese to cover all the GF bases.
