Authors: Carol Kicinski
Simply . . . Gluten-Free Quick Meals: More Than 100 Great-Tasting Recipes for Good Food Fast (20 page)
SPICY PEAR CHUTNEY
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2
medium red onion, minced
1/2
cup dried cranberries
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed
lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2
teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper
¼ to
1/2
teaspoon hot red pepper
flakes (depending on how
spicy you want it)
3 fresh pears, peeled, cored, and
chopped
Serves 6
To brine the pork chops, combine 1 cup water with the salt, brown sugar, and pepper in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring, until the salt and sugar dissolve. Add 3 cups of cold water and let the mixture cool. Stir in the apple cider vinegar. Pour the mixture into a glass baking dish or large freezer-weight plastic storage bag. Add the pork chops, onions, and sage. Refrigerate for 1 to 12 hours (but not more than 12 hours); even a little bit of brining is better than none.
To make the chutney, place a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and minced red onion and cook for 2 or 3 minutes until the onion starts to soften. Add the dried cranberries and cook for 5 minutes more. Stir in the sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and pears and combine well. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the pears and cranberries have softened but the pears still retain their shape. If the mixture is too liquid, increase the heat and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Serve warm.
When ready to cook, take the pork chops out of the refrigerator and rinse them well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels and set the chops aside for about 5 minutes before cooking.
Heat a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Brush the pork chops with olive oil and cook for 4 minutes per side (more or less depending on the thickness of the pork chops). Remove from the pan, brush the tops with a little more olive oil, and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• Dairy-Free
Serves 6
Since my early formative years were spent in the Philippines, I have always had a fondness for Filipino food. This is a slow cooker version of Chicken Adobo. If you have time, throw all the ingredients into a large food storage bag and let marinate in the refrigerator overnight; the flavor will be even more intense. I use skinless, bone-in chicken thighs because I think they have more flavor, but you can use any chicken parts you want, bone-in or boneless, though I do recommend taking the skin off. Serve the chicken with rice to soak up the flavorful juices.
3 to 4 pounds chicken pieces
1 medium onion, halved and
thinly sliced
1/2
cup apple cider vinegar
1/2
cup gluten-free soy sauce
3 bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
1
1/2
teaspoons freshly ground
black pepper
Cooked rice for serving
Combine all the ingredients in a 4-quart slow cooker and let sit for 15 minutes to come to room temperature. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 5 to 6 hours; the meat should be very tender and falling off the bone. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Serve hot with rice.
South-of-the-Border Short Ribs
• Dairy-Free
Serves 6
Short ribs are a flavorful cut of meat that really benefits from long, slow cooking. The slow cooker is the perfect vessel for making fall-off-the-bone-tender short ribs with very little effort. Ask the butcher for extra-lean short ribs and they won’t create much fat in the sauce.
For stress-free entertaining, start with a simple salad, then place the ribs on smashed potatoes, polenta, or rice, and be ready to receive raves.
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
1/2
teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
3 to 4 pounds extra-lean bone-in beef
short ribs (plan on 2 per person)
3 small leeks, white and light
green parts, sliced ¼ inch thick
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled
and cut into 2-inch chunks
1¼ cups mango nectar
1/2
cup gluten-free beef stock
¼ cup tequila
1 tablespoon cornstarch or
arrowroot powder
3 scallions, thinly sliced
Dairy-Free, Ranch-Style Smashed Potatoes
, polenta, or rice
for serving
Mix the salt, pepper, and chili powder together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the short ribs. Place the short ribs in a 6-quart slow cooker and add the leeks and sweet potatoes.
Combine 1 cup mango nectar with the beef stock and tequila and pour over the ribs and vegetables. Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours.
Remove the ribs and vegetables from the slow cooker and place in a serving dish. Combine the cornstarch with the remaining ¼ ⁄4 cup mango nectar. Pour the sauce into a saucepan, skim off any visible fat, and bring to a boil. Add the mango-cornstarch mixture and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, or until the sauce has thickened. Pour the sauce over the ribs and vegetables. Garnish with the sliced scallions. Serve with smashed potatoes, polenta, or rice.
• Dairy-Free
Serves 8
Pork and apples have a natural affinity for one another and this easy roast marries the two quite well. Ask your butcher to remove the excess fat from the pork loin roast or simply trim it off yourself. If you really don’t want to go to any additional bother, you could skip the browning process but your roast won’t look as pretty.
I still have the slow cooker I got for a wedding present back in the ’70s. With that older model it takes about 10 hours for the roast to fully cook, but with my newer one it only takes 7 to 8 hours.
2 teaspoons kosher or fine sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
One 4-pound pork loin roast,
trimmed of excess fat
4 apples, peeled, cored, and each
cut into 6 wedges
1/2
cup apple juice
3 tablespoons maple syrup
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Combine the salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork roast. Place the roast in a roasting pan, fat side up, and roast in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the top starts to brown.
Place the apples in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker and place the roast on top. Combine the apple juice and maple syrup and pour over the pork. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours (unless you have a really old slow cooker, then increase the time to 9 to 10 hours). The internal temperature of the roast should register 155 degrees.
When the roast is done, transfer it to a serving platter. Using a potato masher, mash the apples into the sauce until you have a thick gravy. Slice the roast and spoon the apple gravy over the top.
Wine- and Rosemary-Braised Lamb Shanks with White Bean Mash
• Dairy-Free
This is an elegant, company-worthy meal that is so simple it is almost embarrassing. It is the ultimate slow, slow, quick, quick meal. The lamb shanks cook in the slow cooker for 10 to 12 hours, and the white bean mash takes about 3 minutes to make.
WINE- AND ROSEMARY-BRAISED LAMB SHANKS
1 large onion, roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and
smashed
4 to 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2
cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons kosher or fine sea
salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper
6 lamb foreshanks, about 1 pound
each
Finely grated zest and juice of 1
lemon
1 tablespoon cornstarch or
arrowroot powder
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons cold unsalted
butter or nondairy butter
substitute
WHITE BEAN MASH
¼ cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and lightly
smashed
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 cans white beans, drained and
rinsed
Kosher or fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the lamb shanks, place the onion, garlic, and rosemary sprigs in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the wine, mustard, salt, and pepper. Place the lamb shanks in the slow cooker and pour the wine mixture over the top. Add the lemon zest and juice. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours.
Serves 6
For the white bean mash, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic clove and rosemary sprig. Cook until fragrant and they both start to brown lightly, about 30 seconds. Remove and discard the garlic and rosemary with a slotted spoon or tongs. Add the white beans to the oil and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Mash the beans with a potato masher or the back of a spoon and season to taste with salt and pepper.
When the lamb is done, remove the shanks from the slow cooker and place in a serving bowl. Strain the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a boil on the stovetop. Combine the cornstarch with water and mix well. Add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling sauce and cook for 1 minute, or until the sauce has thickened. Whisk in the cold butter or nondairy butter substitute and pour the sauce over the shanks. Serve over white bean mash.
More Than 100 Great-Tasting
Recipes for Good Food Fast
Simply … Gluten-free Desserts:
150 Delicious Recipes for Cupcakes, Cookies, Pies,
and More Old and New Favorites
I am so grateful that I have so many wonderful people in my life to thank. There is no way I could have written this cookbook, given my hectic schedule, without the support and help of my family and friends.
My husband, Thom, has been my most stable pillar of support for more years than I care to mention in public. He is always there for me, but when crunch time came at the end of this process he really stepped up to the plate, taking care of not only many daily chores but also me. I am so grateful for his help and encouragement but mostly I am just grateful for his existence.
My children, Colin and Dustin, have grown up to be fine upstanding men and are now paying me back in spades for helping them grow up by being there for whatever I need, small or big. I cannot express in words how proud I am of them. I am also grateful for the gorgeous grandchildren they have brought into my life.
Angie Moore is the very definition of the word “friend.” She offered her help and support unconditionally and took things off my plate so that I could make the time to concentrate on writing this book.
My blog readers are, as always, a constant source of inspiration. They have become my virtual cheerleaders as I foray into the world as a cookbook author. The comments on my blog and e-mails I receive from my readers never fail to put a smile on my face and perk me up.
I doubt that all editors are as easy to work with as mine at Thomas Dunne Books, Peter Joseph. He not only brought me into this world of cookbook writing but also nurtured and encouraged me along the way. I will always be grateful for his guidance and support.
My agent, Laurie Jessup, is so much more than an agent; she is a friend. I am thankful for her belief in me and for her help and guidance as I learn to navigate these new waters.