DIY Veggie Stock

I absolutely adore Arrested Development. So much, that I'm not even ashamed to admit that in this moronic scene, Lindsay Bluth totally made me have an "AHA!" moment.

I am ALWAYS using vegetable stock. I usually buy the organic, low sodium cartons. They're easy to open and pour, and I feel like they are much more nutritious than a Campbells can, or whichever store brand happens to be available.

*about $4.00

What is vegetable broth? Uhm, the water leftover after boiling vegetables in it. Thats IT! For the record,  This is not new information to me, and I am sure it is not new information to you, either.  I am not claiming to be a genius, and actually, there are dozens of bloggers who have written a post similar to the one I am about to write - I just happened to find them a few days after my stroke of brilliance.

Anyway, I decided to start making my own broth! 

I make it with whatever I want, whatever I have on hand, and whatever I won't eat in time before it spoils. 

Every time you make anything with veggies, there's usually a butt end that you cut off, right? Start by throwing all those butts into a freezer bag. If you have more celery (or carrots, or anything) than you can eat for the week, put some in the bag! If your recipe calls for 1/2 an onion, put the other half in the bag! If you have extra spaghetti sauce or tomato paste, put some in the bag! Orange, lime or lemon peels? Put them in the bag! You get the idea? Add, add, add, until your bag is full, and nice and colorful. 

*If you eat meat, this would also be a great home for bones, just beware of extra steps later if your broth gets fatty.*

Once you have plenty of butts, (hah!) get a big pot, and empty your bag into it. I'd say that roughly, one freezer bag of assorted veggies will make about 3 quarts of stock. So, make sure your pot is large enough to fit the water, and the veggies. Add the appropriate amount of water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for about an hour.

Let cool, strain through a sieve. Now, you decide the most practical way to store your stock.

You may need it in ice cube form, to thin out a heavy sauce, or stew.

You may want to store it in the fridge, to use within a week, for making rice, quinoa, lentils, or soup.

You may store it here, or there. You may store it anywhere!

It may not be worth it to you to go through these steps, but it's totally worth it to me! Not only do I save money, but I get to enjoy a homemade broth, and know exactly what's in it. You can also omit salt so that you are not forced to include it in your recipe. You can alter the flavors to suit your tastes, or the recipes you will be using the stock for. You can create less waste, by finding a use for these veggie parts that you were going to throw away (compost) anyway! Oh, and somewhere down the line, you'll save yourself a trip to the grocery store... and if that's not enough reason, I don't know what IS!

A few things to consider:

• Mirepoix... and not just the traditional French version! Read this, to get an idea of what veggies will make stock that enhance ethnic recipes.
• Ratio, and variety... don't be like Lindsay Bluth. A bag full of (or mostly) any ONE vegetable is just going to make "Hot _____ Water". Make sure your collection is colorful, and well rounded. 
• Beware of starchy vegetables, like potatoes or squash. They will make your broth cloudy. This might not be a big deal, depending on what you plan to use it for.
• Roughly chop your vegetables, preferably before you freeze them! The more exposed surface area, the more released flavors into your stock.
• Add garlic! ... I love garlic. :) If you find it's too strong or bitter, try roasted garlic, or blanching it first. 
• Experiment, and enjoy!

Time to eat! XOXO
Elyse

Ooey-Gooey Caramel Layer Cake

If I've learned anything (the hard way) in the past two years, it's that sometimes, in the land of gluten-free kitchen escapades - things don't always turn out quite the way you imagine.

You see a luxuriously _______ (insert impossible to achieve adjective here ie: puffy, crisp, tall) baked good on a cooking show or blog and think, "I can make that gluten-free!" Well ... you can ... but it may just look a little less luxurious.

Thankfully, in all my "failed attempts", the creations that weren't so aesthetically pleasing always still tasted DREAMY. For example, I once ate a whole batch of self-dubbed "anorexic mints" after I swore I could re-create the classic Girl Scout cookie. They were too delicious to share too ugly to show anyone.

Today, I was once again reminded of this painful lesson after making Mathew's Birthday Cake.

If you are licking your lips, or thinking, "...that doesn't look so bad!" - know this: those are not pancakes, up there in that photo. They are not supposed to look anything like pancakes. They are supposed to be three tall fluffy layers of baked joy. When I got home, Mat modified my note to include - "It's so ugly, it's cute!", Which is what I say to describe warty pumpkins, or animals with smushed-in faces.

Maybe if you didn't know what it was supposed to look like, it might really not look so bad... but, you must. whamp whamp :(

"OH YA?! Well, I was in a hurry!" "Um, and I didn't have heavy cream!" "The directions weren't very clear!" "Gluten-Free stuff always looks like that!"*

*No, it doesn't.

I sometimes get defensive. 

The good news is, the old adage is correct. Size doesn't matter. My cake, despite appearances, tasted heavenly! Wedding cake-heavenly! ... Oh ya, and the birthday boy liked it too! Half of it was already missing by the time I got home from work - and his birthday isn't even over yet! Just don't tell him that it was inspired by a Paula Deen recipe... Y'All know what that means - BUTTER!

Ooey-Gooey Caramel Layer Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 cup butter (room temperature) 

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 cups gluten free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 tsp xantham gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup milk (or rice or soy)

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

1 cup butter (room temperature)

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup milk (or rice or soy)

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease three 9" cake pans. (If you have something smaller, this is the time to use them. My gluten-free batter hardly rose at all.) Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating well in-between each addition. Add the baking soda. Add the milk and flour alternately, in small increments. Mix thoroughly. Divide the batter equally among the three prepared pans. Bake approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

For the filling:

While the cake is cooking, combine butter, brown sugar, and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter has melted - about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool!*

When the cakes are done, remove from oven, and allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Flip the first tier over and onto your cake plate, then pierce with a fork all over the surface. Pour and spread 1/3 of the filling over the cake. Repeat this process for the second and third cake layer.

*Allow the filling, and cake layers to cool! The filling will thicken upon cooling - which is a good thing! Pouring hot thin filling over hot cakes (haha, "hot cakes", 'cause they look like hotcakes) will produce a runny sad cake sitting in a pool of caramel. Using cooled, thick filling will produce gooey "controlled" drips. This will make a cake that looks like you know what you're doing ... confession: I did not do this.*

For the frosting:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and - little by little, stir in the cream and brown sugar. Beware of splashing! Bring to a boil, and pour into a mixing bowl, or the bowl of your electric mixer. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add vanilla, and powdered sugar. Beat until it looks spreadable ... like frosting, duh!

Spread onto cake carefully, and make it all ugly pretty. (I'm still a little bit bitter.)

Put it into the refrigerator! If the cake is too warm the filling and frosting may continue to ooze. You do not want this, remember?

What I learned / Things to remember:

1. Follow the directions!
2. When making a gluten-full recipe into a gluten-free recipe, only substitute what you absolutely must. If there are too many uncontrolled variables you are setting yourself up for disaster.
3. Think about what properties gluten-free things often have, which are un-favorable. Make smart decions about how to counteract them. Wont stick together? Add Xantham Gum. Wont rise? Add baking soda.
4. Use really good flour. Bob's Red Mill products have yet to fail me. However, gluten-free flours tend to work best when combined with one another. Baking mixes work well, but can be costly and sometimes include things you may not like the taste of. (ie: garbanzo beans ... good in hummus, bad in cookies.) If something calls for 3 cups, use 1 cup of three different flours.
5. Since I am being taught the same lesson over and over, maybe I should change my methodology. Although a beautiful layer cake is impressive and enticing, when 3 gluten-free layers don't even stand 3" tall it leaves a bit to the imagination. Try being practical, and make a sheet cake, or cupcakes using the same ingredients.

How to be really happy, even when you make something super-gross looking:

1. Turn on your favorite Pandora station really loud.
2. Dance a lot around the kitchen while cooking.
3. Lick the spoon.
4. Lick the spoon.
5. Lick the spoon.
6. Feel sick.
7. Ignore step 6.
8. Write a cute little note to put next to your ugly food, and adorn it with a frown-y face. This will make whoever is forced to eat it feel bad for you, and compliment you a LOT.

Time to eat! XOXO

Elyse

Black Bean Soup

Yesterday I spent my afternoon walking through the city and window shopping.  I wore (my favorite) boots and scarf for the first time this season.  I sipped coffee, and ate pastries, while lugging around d'anjou pears, and organic cranberries from the PSU Farmers Market. A day of guilty pleasures, indeed. 

To finish off my day, I shared a bottle (or two) of vino with a few of my oh-so-lovely girlfriends. Needless to say, today,  I am feeling a little bit hungover festive, and thought I'd better finish off the weekend with a healthy, hearty, hot, homemade dinner that would celebrate Fall, and also eight weeks (now) of my meat-free diet!

It was "Soup Week" at my favorite cooking site, where I came across this lovely gem and decided to make a gluten-free vegetarian version.

Black beans are a nutritional powerhouse loaded with  fiber, antioxidants, iron and various vitamins.  They are also one of the foods that I recently rediscovered I love, and now have a generous supply of them in my pantry.

This soup's cook time is lengthy, but it is comprised of only a few (cheap) ingredients, and is incredibly easy to prepare.  If you have never made home-made soup from scratch, don't leave! This is an excellent recipe to help kick-start your maiden voyage.

Black Bean Soup
makes approx. 6 servings

4 cans black beans (or 1lb dried beans)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 sweet pepper (green, red, etc...), finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable stock (low sodium, or adjust any added salt)
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1/3 cup vinegar (apple cider, rice, or white)

To Garnish: (optional, one or more)

Sour cream
Cilantro
Diced tomatos 
Diced onions
Diced peppers

Diced Avocado

Open and drain the cans of black beans, and dump into a (4 quart or larger) dutch oven or stock pot with corresponding lid. (*Please note! There are prior steps if you are using dried beans. They would need to be soaked in water overnight, then rinsed before being added to the pot.) Throw in the onion, peppers, and garlic on top, then drizzle with olive oil, add desired salt and pepper, and stir. Pour the stock into the pot and crank it up to high heat.

Bring to a boil, and skim off any white foam from the surface with a shallow spoon. This is a result of the starches reacting to water and heat. Reduce the temperature to medium-low, and simmer for 4-5 hours while checking periodically. (*If you started with dry beans you may need to add liquid. After simmering for 2 hours, add 1 cup of vegetable stock or water if the beans seem dry.) 

Once your belly starts growling from the enticing aroma filling your kitchen, you may not want to wait the full 4-5 hours -BUT- the extra time allows the beans to break down, and for your soup to morph from a brothy-grey slop into something robust and velvety in texture.

*If the beans haven't cracked after simmering for 4 hours, your soup may seem a little watery. You have a few options at this point:

 
1. You may decide to leave it, as-is, and enjoy. Everything is cooked through, and has had plenty of time to get to know each other in the pot. 

2. You could also puree a portion of the soup, to thicken it up. Ladle a few scoops into your blender, wait for it to cool, (or else the trapped hot soup will create steam and blow off the lid right off your blender and give you a black bean facial ... trust me, blend, and return to pot. If you have an immersion blender (which your husband will buy for you, after said black bean facial), simply pulse it a few times on low. This will also break down some of your ingredients leaving a portion of the soup pureed, without sacrificing whole beans.

3. Allow to simmer for one more hour and see how things look. (I warned you this would take a while!)

Proceed, only once the soup has reached your desired consistency.

Stir in vinegar, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.


*Fun Fact!
Vinegar is great to add to soups. Something acidic, like vinegar (or the juice of lemon or lime), added at the end of cooking brightens flavors- especially in a long simmered sauce or soup, like this one. Start little by little, a tablespoon at a time, and taste before adding more. Adjust, to your liking- until the soup tastes balanced and bright. This soup can handle up to 1/3 cup of vinegar! A small dollop of sour cream doesn't just look pretty, it also adds a satisfying tang. Salt is not always the answer!

Ladle into a bowl, alone, or over rice. Top with garnishes, and enjoy! Repeat. :)

This recipe can withstand many alterations. Try adding paprika, chipotle powder, or liquid smoke, for some smoky spiciness. Add to or replace the sweet peppers with some of a spicier variety. Try adding fresh lime, or orange juice, for a citrus-y tang.  If you enjoy meat, use beef or chicken stock, and add peppered bacon, or diced ham.


Also, try using your crock pot. I would *guess* that 4-5 hours on low would do the trick. 

This soup will freeze excellently ... if there's any left over! 

Please leave me your comments, or any questions you may have, and let me know how your Black Bean Soup turns out! Mine was delicious, and even better the next day!

Time to eat! XOXO
Elyse

Read Me, Please!

You are reading the first post, of a blog who has warm, fuzzy dreams of being long lived, and greatly admired.

This is the first step in my (hopefully) epic journey to show off my unique epicurean skills. Ideally, to a larger audience than just my grateful husband or my starving co-workers, who salivate at anything in a tupperware container.

I've come to terms with the fact that I am VERY good at (only) a FEW things.
...I'm sure you will be able to figure out what they are, right away.

Not to sound like a snob - but I have never enjoyed eating solely for fuel. When I make anything, it becomes an elaborate production ... I use three different knives just to make breakfast, and I can't make a sandwich without pre-heating the oven. I surely am not bragging. Since I usually get home from work at midnight, this sort of mentality about food preparation generally makes me go to sleep either hungry, or not until five in the morning! On the other hand, it has allowed me to test some really great ideas.

To avoid any shock on your part, or guilt on mine - I should preface this by letting you know that I am not a celiac.  I do not need to follow a gluten-free, (or any kind of special) diet. I am not allergic or intolerant to any allergen. My husband, however is ... and that is what inaugurated this grand culinary adventure.

When I first met Mathew, he was eating 5 bowls of cereal a day, supplemented by rice pasta, rice macaroni and cheese, and rice bread sandwiches. Honestly, I don't think his bland diet bothered him much, but you know how when you date someone, you generally eat what they eat? Well I did, and it (REALLY) bothered me. It was time for a change ... and change things I DID!

My plan, with this blog, is to depict my journey as I continually try to discover and create fun, experimental, yet delicious and (sometimes) healthy gluten-free recipes.

A little bit about my background ...

After High School, I went to Western Culinary Institute. I did not go to learn how to cook. I got my degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Management, but I did take a six week course on cooking basics. You know,  how to differentiate herbs, like oregano from ... that other stuff - or how to use a knife as big as your face without ruining your manicure, etc ...

Now, I work as a waitress at a corporate chain restaurant, (and dream of a day I will never have to do that again).

... Actually, I dream that I am there ... all the time. Usually I am running in slow motion to serve people who don't know the difference between American and cheddar cheese.

Anyway, I digress ...

I love farmers markets. I love scouring cookbooks and the internet for hours to find 8 great, trustworthy recipes and then not following any of them. I love seeing peoples' faces when they taste something I make. (Is that creepy?) I don't even mind if it looks like this :( but mostly, have found that it looks like this :D

Lets recap:
I am (very) new to this anti-gluten world.
I do not claim to be professionally trained.
No one pays me to cook for them.
The people who claim to enjoy my creations may be a bit biased.

That all being said, please come back, visit often, continue to read, enjoy, and comment. I hope to learn as much from you as you learn from me!

Time to eat! XOXO
Elyse