New Gluten-Free, Allergen-Free Cookbook

Friday, May 10th, 2013

I am lucky not to have any food allergies, but I still want to make so many of the delicious-sounding recipes in Elizabeth Gordon’s new book, Simply Allergy-Free: Quick and Tasty Recipes for Every Night of the Week. Just looking at the gorgeous photos in the book, you’d never know that ever recipe is free of gluten, dairy, soy, eggs and nuts. Author of the blog My Allergy Free Life and owner of the online allergen-free bakery Betsy & Claude Baking Company, this busy mom of two girls has multiple food allergies. She says, “I like to think of these recipes as the little black dress of my pantry—simple and economical fare that can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion.”

She shows you how to use (and where to buy!) key ingredients like xanthan gum, agave nectar, superfine rice flour, powdered vanilla rice milk, and sorghum flour, which can make gluten-free and allergen-free foods taste like “the real thing.” The recipes I can’t wait to try include chicken tikka burgers, chickpea French fries, beef tostadas, corn quinoa salad, herbed biscuits, and chocolate pretzel pie. Yum!

Cooking with Aaron Sanchez

Thursday, October 25th, 2012

Last week, Food Network’s chef Aarón Sanchez (you probably know him from Iron Chef America or Chopped) joined popchips for the ultimate happy hour at The Kitchen NYC. Sanchez is known for keeping things spicy both in the kitchen and on television, so I was eager to watch his food demonstration, steal some of his cooking tips, and sample some food. It turned out to be a blast, as Sanchez was very down-to-earth and kept cracking jokes all night long. And of course, the food was delicious!

Even better, Sanchez gave us a few of his recipes at the end of the night. Now, I’m no expert chef but these look straightforward enough that even I can handle them. One of my personal favorites was the chile, which I was fascinated to learn should not have beans in it. Instead, Sanchez says it’s all about the meat and the chilies. He also kept insisting that a meal must have texture as well as flavor, so that’s why he’s promoting the new tortilla popchips. The flavors perfectly complemented the recipes, and they have half the fat of regular tortilla chips, so that’s why he suggests serving the chile over some nacho cheese tortilla popchips.

Here’s my favorite recipe from the night:

All-Beef Chile Colorado

6 guajillo chilies, stems and seeds removed
1 1/2 cups boiling water
6 fresh tomatillos, papery skins peeled off
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 chipotle chiles in adobo
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
2 pounds ground beef (preferably chuck)
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground black pepper
grated sharp cheddar

1. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the guajillo chilies on each side for 30 seconds, until just softened. Put them immediately in a glass bowl and pour the boiling water over them to cover. Soak for 15 minutes.

2. In the same dry skillet, toast the tomatillos and garlic, turning several times until the vegetables have softened slightly and the exteriors have brown marks, 3 to 4 minutes. Discard the paper skins on the garlic.

3. Put the guajillo chilies in a blender with the soaking water, the tomatillos, the peeled garlic, and the chipotle chilies in adobo. Pulse to make a smooth puree.

4. In a large stewpot over medium heat, cook the onions until softened and just turning golden, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook through, breaking it up with a spoon as you cook, about 10 minutes.

5. Add the pureed chiles and tomatillos, the tomatoes, ancho chile powder, cumin, salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour, loosely covered, until the deep orange-red sauce is thick. You may need to add a little more water, but take it easy. The finished chili should not be too wet.

6. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. For each serving, put a handful of nacho cheese tortilla popchips in the bottom of a bowl and ladle a serving of chili on top. Scatter with a handful of cheese and eat at once.

Enjoy!

Photos courtesy of popchips.

An Easy Way to Fight Child Hunger

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

We’ve all seen the heartbreaking images of children in third world countries who are barely surviving due to a lack of food. We all know that this tragic reality exists, but did you know that there are 16 million children living here in America who are battling hunger?

We at Parents take this issue very seriously. We recently ran a report on what hunger looks like in America and interviewed a mom who experienced it firsthand.

Romano’s Macaroni Grill is teaming up with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign to bring 1 million meals to children in need. They invited us and other bloggers to write about their favorite Italian recipe and for every post they will donate $50 to No Kid Hungry, which will provide up to 500 meals for children in need.

Here’s what you can do to help.

Give
Throughout the entire month of September, Macaroni Grill diners can donate $2 to No Kid Hungry and receive $5 off their next visit. A $2 donation could provide up to 20 meals.

Share
Every time a fan shares a photo from the Mac Grill Facebook Gallery, Macaroni Grill will help No Kid Hungry provide a child with a meal.

Tag
Tweet or Instagram a photo of your Macaroni Grill experience with the tag #macgrillgive and Macaroni Grill will provide a child with a meal.

Here’s one of our favorite Italian dishes, the mega-simple Crockpot Lasagna:

Ingredients:           

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 26 ounce jar pasta sauce
• ¾ cup water
• 1 15 ounce carton light ricotta cheese
• 6 lasagna noodles
• 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese (6oz.)

Make It
1. Coat a 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In a large microwave-safe bowl stir together pasta sauce and water. Cover bowl with waxed paper and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl stir together ricotta cheese and carrot; set aside.

2. Spoon 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture in the bottom of prepared slow cooker. Break half of the noodles to fit the bottom of the slow cooker and arrange over the sauce in the slow cooker. Spoon mounds of half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Top with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella. Spoon half of the remaining sauce over the layers. Top with remaining noodles, breaking to fit, remaining ricotta mixture, and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon remaining sauce over and top with remaining mozzarella.

3. Cover; cook on low heat setting for 3 hours (noodles should be tender). Remove crockpot from liner and let stand covered for 20 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Tip
Stovetop Method:  Prepare as above, except increase noodles to 8 and layer ingredients in a large deep skillet. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 35 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes.

Skip the Sodium

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

For many of us, it’s almost a reflex: we add a dash of salt to our food before we take the first bite. But according to the Center for Disease Control, we shouldn’t be so quick to grab for the shaker. In recognition of World Salt Awareness Week, we shook up some facts on sodium.

A diet that’s heavy in salt can contribute to life-threatening conditions like heart attacks or strokes. The CDC estimates that 9 out of 10 Americans consume too much sodium, 95% of which comes from restaurant or processed foods.

Here are some simple ways to cut back on sodium without scrimping on flavor:

Eat more fresh fruits and veggies (or frozen varieties without added ingredients). Try a blueberry-zucchini loaf for breakfast, or serve this vitamin-C packed fruit-and-pasta salad for dinner. For a quick meal, thaw a bag of frozen mixed vegetables to make an easy lasagna.

Ask restaurants for low-sodium options, or request that they don’t add salt to your food.

At home, read nutrition labels and choose lower-sodium options. Stock the pantry with staples like low-sodium teriyaki sauce. (Try it in this flavorful shrimp stir-fry.) With recipes this tasty, you’ll never miss the salt.

An Evening with Scharffen Berger Chocolate and Pastry Chefs Johnny Iuzzini and Elizabeth Falkner

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

So what do you do when handed an irresistible invitation that reads, Scharffen Berger® Chocolate Maker Invites You to an Evening of Elevated Desserts with Acclaimed Pastry Chefs Elizabeth Falkner and Johnny Iuzzini?  If you love chocolate and eat dessert first, you say “Yes, please!” and head to the event with the resident Food Editor (the lovely Erica Clark) to watch the chefs give new twists to classic sweets using Scharffen Berger® chocolate.

Foodies and fans of “Top Chef: Just Desserts” will recognize Johnny Iuzzini as one of the head judges (alongside Gail Simmons) and Elizabeth Falkner as one of the guest judges from season one.  Iuzzini cut his teeth at Payard and is now the Executive Pastry Chef at Jean Georges restaurant in New York City while Falkner will soon be appearing on “The Next Iron Chef” and is the brainchild behind Orson restaurant and Citizen Cake bakery/ice cream parlor in San Francisco, CA.

In a room mostly full of women (yes, we do love our chocolate), Iuzzini started his demonstration of creating “Chocolate Pudding with Passion Fruit Gelée, Whipped Chocolate Crème Fraîche, and Cacao Nibs,” which was inspired by Jell-O Pudding Face ads, while Falkner began her demonstration of “Chocolate Gelato Sundae,” which was inspired by her love for ice cream. In order to make the ice cream solidify faster, Falkner used liquid nitrogen to freeze the milk-sugar mixture, which gave the demo a science-lab feel. (Both recipes are featured after the jump below.)

The audience was then divided into two groups to learn how to make each dessert (while wearing chefs hats and aprons).  Ending up in Iuzzini’s group, I mixed dry ingredients (those are my hands, on the right, and me with Iuzzini, below) and watched as unsweetened natural cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate became a trifle with layers of passion fruit gelée, devil’s food cake (that incorporated mayonnaise), chocolate crumble, crème fraîche, pudding, and for garnish: passion fruit seeds and freeze-dried raspberries. 

Afterwards, we were given a taste of the deeply delicious desserts — the chocolate pudding was a combination of sweet/sour and smooth/crunchy while the gelato sundae (garnished with chocolate cake bits, cocao nibs, and marshmallow cream) was a combination of sweet/bitter and crunchy/chewy.

Moms (and dads) all need a little “me” time, so if you’re a parent who loves chocolate, baking, and creating unusual spins on traditional desserts, consider making these two desserts as a treat for the family (the gelato sundae is more child-friendly, though you won’t need a nitrogen tank at home to make it!).  Or enter the “Elevate a Classic Dessert with Scharffen Berger® Chocolate Contest” for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000.  The contest period is between October 1, 2011 – January 2, 2012.

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A New Spin on Summer Snacks

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

When the weather turns warm, certain seasonal foods pop into our minds for picnic lunch ideas or evening cookout dishes.  Chicken salad and pasta salad are classic hit recipes with most families, and can be quick, delicious entrées to whip up. But sometimes, particularly on those scorching hot days, these mayo-based salads can seem too heavy and saturated with calories.

Here are two new ways to enjoy the summer dishes, but with a lighter and healthier approach. By mixing in hummus instead of mayo for homemade chicken and pasta salads, you can cut a few calories and tantalize your taste buds with new flavors. Give them a try, and let us know what you think!

Hummus Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
1 Cup Grilled Chicken Breast, Cubed
1 Tablespoon Finely Diced Scallions
2 Tablespoons Diced Celery
2 Tablespoons Diced Red Pepper
1 Tablespoon Water
½ Cup Sabra Hummus
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Yields 2 servings.

Directions: Combine all ingredients and stir well. Serve in a bowl of radicchio as a salad, on a sandwich, wrap, or as an appetizer with veggies, chips or pita.

Basil Pesto Hummus Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 lb. Fusilli pasta (cooked according to package instructions)
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, rough chopped
1 cup fennel (2 small bulbs), finely chopped
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and chopped
1  (10 ounce) container of Sabra Basil Pesto Hummus
¾ cup Roasted Red Pepper (1 whole pre-roasted red pepper)
½ cup Chives, minced
1 cup pasta cooking water, reserved
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Fennel fronds for garnish

Serves 4-6 as a main course

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1-cup pasta cooking water.

2. Prepare all of the vegetables.  In a big bowl, toss the vegetables with the Basil Pesto Hummus. Add pasta, and pasta water and stir to combine. Sprinkle with black pepper.

3. Serve at room temperature, drizzle each portion with a little splash of olive oil and sprinkle fennel fronds overtop.

Please note: If this is made a day ahead and refrigerated, add water before serving to achieve a creamier consistency. Also, wait until just before serving to add the olive oil and fennel frond garnish.

Recipes by Colombe Jacobsen

Last-Minute Dr. Seuss Dinner

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

If you have nothing special planned to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday today, it’s not too late! All that you need to make this whimsical Cat in the Hat pizza is a tube of pizza dough like Pillsbury Pizza Crust, tomato sauce, and cheese. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, just unravel the dough, until about an inch from the end. Use a pizza wheel or sharp knife to give it the curves of the cat’s hat. Bake for about 5 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove from oven. Alternately make stripes with tomato sauce and shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, starting with sauce. Bake for another 6-10 minutes, until sauce is hot and cheese is melted.

The Amazing Technicolor Dream Cake

Monday, January 26th, 2009

O.M.G. Is this not the most fun, colorful cake ever? Maybe it's just winter and I'm starved for color, but I think any kid would flip for this rainbow cake. (Because clearly this big kid wants one for her next birthday, hint hint.) Spotted at ohdeedoh, but you can read the step-by-step (and slightly irreverent) instructions at The Omnomicon.