Gluten-Free (A Contrast)

I grew up in a wheat culture, just like most of you.  Wheat is what I knew for baking.  Add a little yeast and oil and you had pizza crust.  Add some leavening, sugar and fats and you had cookies.  Add some buttermilk and you had pancakes.

One canister did it all.

And then . . . the big gluten exit and oh my goodness did life change.  Now all of baking is centered on one question.

What can I do to make this bread product taste like it is made with wheat???

Aah, there is the question.  And to answer the question, one must have lots and lots of different flours to mix and add.

I used to have a canister of Wheat Flour.

Now, I have canisters of Rice Flour
                                      Oat Flour
                                      Tapioca Flour
                                      Potato Flour
                                      Arrowroot Starch
                                      Pizza Crust Mix
                                      Pancake Mix
                                      All-Purpose Mix (for cookies)
                                      Xanthan Gum

My pantry is bulging!  There's scarcely room.  I finally corralled all the miscellaneous bags (folded over, clothes-pinned, leaking from different openings) into nice smooth glass canisters.  This comforts me.  A little

My how life has changed.

Before the gluten-free life:

                                   
After the gluten-free life:

My pantry and I are still adjusting!

Quick Turkey Enchiladas

There are 3 reasons I love this meal:

#1 - They're quick - meaning I can decide to make them an hour before dinner time and still have them on the table at the prescribed moment, meaning I can feel like something really did go right with my day.

#2 - They're turkey - meaning I don't feel heavy and gorged when I finish eating them, meaning they're light but totally delicious!!

#3 - They're enchiladas - meaning it's Mexican food, meaning it's flavorful and slightly spicy, meaning my family loves it.  My family really could eat Mexican food meal after meal after meal after meal after meal ......

This recipe is adapted from an American Test Kitchen recipe.

Quick Turkey enchiladas are especially comforting on a grey . . . drippy . . . overcast . . . drizzly day.  Like today.

Give me something warm and scrumptious!

Quick Turkey Enchiladas (serves 4 . . . I double it for the 7 of us)


1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground turkey
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 1/2 cans red enchilada sauce (you will need 2 10-ounce cans of enchilada sauce)
1/4 cup drained sliced pickled jalapenos, chopped (I left these out . . . too spicy for little mouths . . . husband very disappointed)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
10 6-inch corn tortillas


Heat oven to 400.  Grease 13x9 baking dish.  Heat oil in large skilled over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add onion and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in turkey and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.  Stir in 2 cups of cheese, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce, jalapenos, and cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper.


Stack tortillas on plate, wrap with plastic and microwave until pliable, about 1 minute.  Top each tortilla with 1/4 cup turkey mixture and roll tightly.  Please seam-side down in prepared baking dish and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Top with additional 1 cup enchilada sauce and remaining cheese; cover with foil.  Bake 10 minuntes, remove foil, and continue baking until cheese is completely melted, about 5 minutes longer.  Serve, passing remaining heated enchilada sauce at table.

Bread Slabs - Gluten-Free

Sometimes, in the course of a meal, along comes a recipe that saves the day.

Such was the case on Sunday, Easter.

And the recipe was the chewy and savory Basil/Rosemary Bread Slabs from my wonderful, favorite, cookbook, Cooking for Isaiah.

The star of the show was to be the delicious and elegant Chicken Broccoli Rolls in Wine Sauce.  Yes, "was to be."

As it turns out, the 2nd page of the 3-page recipe was completely gone . . . missing . . . mislaid . . .disappeared.  And so I had to draw on my memory of a dish I hadn't made in 10 years.

As is so often the case, recipes trump memory. 

I distinctly heard someone on the other side of the table comment that the dish tasted rather like creamed tuna on toast.  ::sigh::  And Oldest Son responded, quietly, that maybe Easter dinner wasn't the perfect time to bring out old, unfamiliar recipes.

It is at times like this that I am really, really, really glad that I have a family-pleasing recipe like "Bread Slabs" to save the day.  And they're gluten-free to boot! 

Gotta love these little darlings!