Mexican Minestrone Filed under ( Frugal Food, Soup )

My mom says:

"Made a good Mediterranean veggie soup yesterday that your family might enjoy. It consists of: Water, canned tomatoes, fresh carrots, celery, onions, garlic, spinach, and I put in potatoes instead of macaroni. Add 1 bay leaf, 4 vegetable bouillon cubes, 2tbs. of olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, and grated Parmesan cheese.

Then put some Brie cheese inside some wheat-free rolls, wrap in alum. foil and heat in oven for 2-3 minutes. It's a very hearty combo and warms you up in a jiffy.

Sounded good. My mom is the Queen of Soups, although my brother, sister and I did not appreciate such talents when we were younger. She used to throw in the perpetually-growing collards into the soup pot all the time and we would hate the arrival of the dreaded "Garbage Soup" on the dinner table.

At any rate, here's my version of mom's recipe above based on what I had in the cupboards:

Mexican Minestrone

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable broth
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. frozen spinach
1 (14 oz.) can hominy, drained
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Handful chopped cilantro

Saute onions, garlic, celery and carrots in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until soft. Add broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Throw in spinach and hominy. Bring to a boil again, then turn down to a simmer and cook, covered about 20-30 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese and cilantro. The hominy is nice and chewy in this soup.

As with most soups, this is better the second day.

Adios!

Italian Soul Food Filed under ( Casseroles, Frugal Food, Italian Food )

My mom sent me a delicious-sounding recipe for polenta with Gorgonzola she had spied in one of the culinary mysteries by Katharine Hall Page. This is a fun culinary mystery series starring a minister’s wife/amateur sleuth sprinkled with lots of great recipes. Unfortunately, Gorgonzola is not a gluten-free item. All those stinky, glorious cheeses like Blue, Gorgonzola and Stilton are on the verboten list as they are made with bread mold.

Believing as I do that one should always listen to one’s mother, I scoured some other polenta recipes and came up the following version:

Polenta with Gruyere and Roasted Vegetable Marinara

1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 small minced onion
3 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
½ lb. Gruyère cheese, grated
2 small zucchini, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. rosemary
Kosher salt
Olive oil
½ lb. sliced mushrooms
2 cups tomato sauce

Toss zucchini, garlic and mushrooms with enough olive oil to coat in glass baking dish. Sprinkled with salt and rosemary. Roast in 400 degree oven until soft and caramelized, about 45 minutes. Mix with tomato sauce.

While vegetables are roasting, bring 3-1/2 cups of water to a simmer in a saucepan. Gradually stir in cornmeal and onion with a wooden spoon. Simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in butter, eggs and 1 cup of Gruyere. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the mixture evenly in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until the topping is melted and lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with roasted vegetable sauce.

This is a very rich dish, so serve on the side with something plain, like broiled fish or a garden salad.

Serves 4-6.

Wheat-Free, Meat-Free Filed under ( Fish and Seafood, Frugal Food, Pasta )

January 30, 2007

Welcome to the Wheat-Free, Meat-Free blog. My husband Dan was diagnosed with celiac disease (basically an allergy to gluten found in wheat, oats & barley) last year and two of our four family members don't eat meat, so we have had to adjust our cooking and eating habits quite a bit as of late. We do eat fish and seafood, so some recipes will be added here involving those critters. We all wanted to share some of our favorite things to eat with others who may be needing a wheat-free, meat-free diet.

Here's our fledgling recipe:

PASTA WITH WHITE CLAM SAUCE

6 cloves garlic peeled and minced
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. hot red pepper flakes (you really need this to cut the richness of the sauce)
3 (6-1/2 oz.) cans chopped clams
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Chopped fresh basil or Italian parsley to taste
Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Start heating a pot of water for your favorite gluten-free pasta.

Heat saute pan on stove until medium hot. Add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted and starting to sizzle, toss in garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Do not let it burn and get bitter. Add onion and saute until softened and golden.

Your pasta water should be at a rolling boil and then you can cook and drain your pasta. Keep warm while sauce finishes.

Drain clam juice into pan and cook to reduce. Add red pepper flakes. You can also add a bit of white wine or fish/vegetable broth. I used to like to add a Knorr's fish stock cube but they apparently don't make this product anymore.

Reduce pan juices to half. Add herbs. You might like to add a Tbsp. or two more of butter, depending on how thick your sauce is. Serve over pasta with grated cheese to taste.

Buon Appetito!

Rachel, Dan, Leigh and Amy Jagareski

Zucchini Tonic Filed under ( Frugal Food, Vegetables )

In the dead of winter, as the lone dried asparagus stalks flail out of the snow-capped vegetable garden, one needs a little fresh greenery. Here's a simple zucchini recipe that restores the cholorophyll to your body:

Sauteed Zucchini

2 medium zucchini, washed and ends cut off

1 tsp. dried or frozen basil

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil

5 plump cloves garlic, finely chopped

Grate zucchini coarsely on a kitchen grater.

Heat saute pan. Add butter and oil and heat to sizzling. Add garlic and stir 1-2 minutes. Add half of zucchini and saute 5 minutes. Add remaining zucchini and saute another 5 minutes (some zucchini stays bright green this way). Season with basil, salt and pepper and serve.

Zucchini lets off a lot of moisture, so this will be saucey. If you like your zucchini drier, you can squeeze it out before cooking to remove some liquid or cook a few more minutes, but don't let zucchini become gray and overcooked.

Serves 4.

Palmer House Potatoes Filed under ( Frugal Food, Potatoes, Vegan )

21 years ago I was a waitress and kitchen helper for the inaugural summer at the Palmer House Cafe in Rensselaer-ville, New York, a beautiful Albany County hamlet surrounded by rolling hills, waterfalls and historic houses. It is a summer residence for many artists and writers (Isaac Asimov and Andy Rooney were the celebs during my tenure), and I was fortunate to help out my friends Mike, Marie, Bill and Susan in their new restaurant venture. They taught me many wonderful kitchen tricks and recipes in the hours leading up to the dinner service, but the best recipe of all remains their delicious garlic roasted potatoes. I am proud to share it with you all.

Palmer House Potatoes

10-12 potatoes, peeled and sliced thickly

1 head garlic, peeled and chopped

kosher salt and pepper

Olive oil

Toss potatoes and garlic with enough olive oil to coat. I like to use my hands in a big soup pot to accomplish this. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread out onto two cookie sheets so that each potato has its own space to roast without being covered up by other potatoes. You want these nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Scrape and turn over once or twice during the cooking time to brown evenly. You might also want to rotate cookie sheets at least once to brown evenly. The potatoes on the top rack always brown more in my oven.

Sprinkle with dried parsley, basil, or rosemary and a dash more kosher salt and serve hot.

Serves 6.

Ooh Baby, It's Cold Outside Filed under ( Frugal Food, Soup )

More single digit tempera-tures outside and wild winds sucking out the heat inside. Time to whip up a hot pot of soup. Minimal cupboard contents dictated the following Italian comfort soup.

PASTA E FAGIOLI (Pasta Fazool)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped (more if anyone in the house is feeling poorly)

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 (28 oz.) can plum tomatoes or diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz.) can canellini beans or chick peas, drained

1 cup water

Seasonings: dried or fresh basil, parsley, salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb. cooked gluten-free pasta (elbows or ditalini are traditional, but I used leftover fettucine)

Grated Romano or Parmesan

Heat oil in soup pot. Saute onion, carrots and celery for several minutes. Add garlic, taking care to keep heat low so garlic doesn’t get bitter. Saute several more minutes.

Add remaining ingredients, except for pasta. Simmer gently 15-20 minutes. Add pasta for the last five minutes of cooking to avoid mushiness. Top with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Serves 6.

Mangia!