Gluten Free Spaghetti with Mushroom Bolognese

Every month I look forward to the arrival of my new Food & Wine magazine.  The covers are always tantalizing.  The celebrity Q&A surprises me most months as I assume all celebrities never actually do anything as mundane for themselves as cooking.  (So and So can do what?) And the Editors' Top 10 Objects. There are usually at least one or two items I'm not sure how I ever lived with out.  Really. Seriously! I DO need the "Chicken Shaped"  Food jewelry.  See March 2016 pg 18.  (A blatant hint for my dear husband)

Page 86 of the March issue.  Mushroom Bolognese!  The photo of the dish in the magazine made me warm and fuzzy and sent me back.  Transported back to a comfortable, safe haven.  Saturday dinners with Dad.  As a teen, I remember Dad and I making Kraft Italian Style Spaghetti from a box.  We always doctored up the the recipe, adding meat and more mushrooms and more spices. It was a fun bonding time of father and daughter.  Page 86 reminded me of my comfort food but without the beef.

The next best thing about this recipe is it required very little altering to fit our dietary restrictions (elimination of the sugar ingredient and the use of gluten free pasta) and some of its ingredients could, in some form, come from my very own garden!  Fresh carrots, baby eggplant and tomatoes, tomatoes. tomatoes!  Doesn't it taste better when you've grown it yourself!

Stubby raised bed carrots.  They are meant to be this short and aren't they cute!

INGREDIENTS

·         1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms

·         6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

·         1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         1 baby eggplant (8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         1 pound cremini mushrooms, one-fourth sliced, the rest cut into 1/4-inch dice (FYI, Cremini and Baby Bellas are the same thing.  I NEVER knew!)

·         8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         Kosher salt

·         Pepper

·         5 garlic cloves, minced

·         2 tablespoons tomato paste

·         1 tablespoon white miso

·         One 2-inch chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus grated cheese for serving

·         One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed

·         1 thyme sprig

·         12 ounces brown rice spaghetti

·         2 tablespoons chopped parsley

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

1.     In a small bowl, cover the porcini with 1 cup of boiling water; soak until softened, about 30 minutes. Finely chop the porcini, discarding any tough bits. Pour off and reserve 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid.

Shitakes, creminis, porcinis, garlic, onion and carrot from my own garden

2.     In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion and carrots and cook over moderate heat until light golden, about 8 minutes. Add the eggplant and 2 tablespoons of the oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 8 minutes. Stir in the cremini, shiitake, chopped porcini and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste and miso and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chunk of cheese, the tomatoes and their juices, the thyme, sugar and reserved mushroom soaking liquid and bring to a simmer.


3. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is very thick, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig; season the sauce with salt and pepper. 


Hearty and flavorful.  One would never know it was vegetarian!

4.In a pot of salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.

5.     Add the pasta, pasta water and parsley to the sauce; toss to coat. Serve in bowls, topped with grated cheese.

MAKE AHEAD

The mushroom Bolognese can be refrigerated for 2 days.

Delicious

Garlic & Greens Spaghetti - Because Garlic Fest is just around the corner

GARLIC!!!!!!GARLIC!!!!!!!!GARLIC!!!!!!!!

Last year, by virtue of a glitch is the cosmos, I was asked to fill in as a guest judge at the Delray Beach Garlic Festival.  I suspect is was the universe pointing to one of the true lovers of all things garlic because clearly it was not pointing to a public speaker.  This year, another judge must have fallen into a black hole, as I was asked, again. to participate as a Judge.  (Someone seriously needs to do a better vetting process if I'm asked to speak with a microphone in hand)

In any event, to ready myself for the challenge I have re-invented Garlic & Greens Spaghetti from the Food Network Magazine Cookbook, Great Easy Meals. (Page 277 for those who want the original recipe)

This dish has everything my husband and I love.  GARLIC in abundance.  Fresh greens.  And, Pasta.

The modifications to this recipe were minimal.  We, of course, added more garlic than required and less EVOO.  We found adding two onions to the dish made it too sweet and lessened the recipe it to just one.  If you have followed us before, the standard pasta is replaced with brown rice pasta. (An FYI, we also tried it with linguine but much preferred the spaghetti version)

We attempted this recipe twice.  Once with grilled pork and the second time with blackened shrimp on top.  Both were delicious.  Both would be made again.

The original recipe suggests par boiling the greens, however we omitted that step.  I preferred to saute the greens in the onion/EVOO.  I hate to lose any nutritional value in the water bath and we both love sauted greens.

Ingredients
20 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onions, halved and sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
Kosher salt
12 cups torn winter greens, such as kale, chard, escarole or mustard greens (about 2 1/2 pounds)
12 ounces brown rice spaghetti 
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese


Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, cook the garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. (Be careful not to over-brown the garlic or it will taste bitter.) Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic chips to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil into a small bowl to use as a dip for crusty bread, if desired. 

Is there any better smell than a saute pan full of garlic?

When the water is boiling, Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.  Our brand of pasta takes about 15 min.

Brown Rice Pasta has a different cooking method than traditional pasta.  Be sure to follow the instructions

Add the onions and red pepper flakes to the oil in the pan; cook, stirring, until the onions are light brown, about 10 minutes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt. When the onions are almost done, add the greens and cook, uncovered, until just tender,stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Greens and onion mixture with Garlic waiting in the background.

When the pasta is done, remove and reserve about 1 cup cooking water; drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the cheese and toss. Add the greens and some of the reserved pasta water and toss, adding more water as necessary to keep the pasta from clumping. Top with the garlic chips and protein of choice.

Almost ready to serve

Garlic & Greens with Blackened Shrimp

Garlic & Greens with grilled pork

Fragrant South Indian Beef Curry

Since starting this blog at the beginning of the year I have come to the conclusion that most recipes need the "three times at bat" rule.  The big exception to that was the Chile Spiced Skirt Steak Taco Recipe.  That won me and my family over on the first try and we keep going back to it time and again.  Since not every recipe is going to be that captivating here is my plan:

• First try:  Follow the recipe as closely as possible omitting or substituting only absolutely when necessary to stick with our dietary restrictions.  (Coconut Oil for Canola Oil is a good example)
• Second Round:  This is where I either liked the recipe and try it again to make sure you followed it correctly or I  mix it up to make improvements.
• Round Three:  Is where I either experiment with sides or re-try my round two improvements.

The Fragrant South Indian Beef Curry recipe required all three rounds, even though I changed very little. (As noted, I switched out the steamed rice and used Quinoa and, of course, went with the healthier Coconut Oil)  The reasons for all three rounds:  I can't decide if I like this dish or not.  I clearly don't dislike it since I made it three times but I'm also on the fence about liking the very strong "fragrant" flavors.  Star anise is a very new ingredient for me and wow, does it pack some seriously strong, perfume-y flavor.  Should I eat it or dab it behind my ears?

Either way, the dish does smell amazing while cooking!  If you give it a try I would love comments back to see what you think.

Curry with a side of steamed brocolli

Fragrant South Indian Beef Curry

2 tablespoons canola oil Coconut Oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

12 fresh curry leaves or 2 bay leaves

6 garlic cloves, grated

4 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon tomato paste dissolved in 1/2 cup of water

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

4 small dried hot chiles

4 star anise pods

Two 3-inch cinnamon sticks

1 3/4 pounds boneless beef short ribs, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

Salt

In a medium enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and curry leaves and cook over moderate heat until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in the dissolved tomato paste along with the coriander, garam masala, cayenne, turmeric, dried chiles, star anise and cinnamon sticks. Add the ribs, season with salt and stir until coated with spices. Cover partially and cook over very low heat until the meat is tender, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Spoon off as much fat as possible and discard the star anise, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves, if using.

MAKE AHEAD

The beef curry can be refrigerated overnight.

SERVE WITHSteamed rice. Quinoa

SUGGESTED PAIRING

Spiced, dark-berried red. We went with our usual Rex Goliath Malbec.  Its heavy, fruity flavor worked well with the hot, spicy, perfume-y beef and this curry dish needs a wine that can stand up to its bold flavor.

Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2013, page 212

Herbed Lamb Meatballs

When I had the idea for this blog, I was very much excited about the transformation of recipes. My main goal was to make regular recipes available for those of us following a gluten free, sugar free, dairy free lifestyle.  My first post required several attempts and a few tweaks here and there until I came up with an acceptable end result.

Since my hubby and I are HUGE fans of lamb, the Herbed Lamb Meatballs with Rich Tomato Sauce and ricotta (Food & Wine Magazine, January pg 96) seemed like the next great experiment.  Besides loving lamb, I really love recipes that are full of fun herbs I can pick directly from my garden and this recipe had that going for it.  Full of excitement, I read the ingredient list.  Marker in hand, I was ready to make my substitutions.

While this recipe IS delicious, it was a bittersweet read.  I WANTED to make substitutions and transformations and prove that eating in my new found "free zone" was doable.  I wanted to show change! And with this recipe, there was little to change.  And then it hit me...who said everything has to be changed?  This recipe (other than the ricotta topper) was good on its own. There was no need to change.  Proof that we can eat healthy and fun and tasty without turning our world upside down.

The recipe below does have a few tweaks but those had more to do with the state of my pantry than fitting into my diet.  I substituted coconut oil for the olive oil only because I was running low on Olive Oil.  And, as you will find out if you continue to follow, I only use Pink Himalayan Sea Salt.  Lastly, I added more wine.  I have a feeling I will be doing that a lot as well.

Herbed Lamb meatballs served with my homemade red cabbage slaw with capers.

Sauce
1/4 C Coconut Oil
4 large garlic cloves minced
1 C lightly packed basil leaves, torn
2 T oregano leaves
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
Two 20 oz cans whole Italian tomatoes with the juices, crushed
6 large anchovy fillets, chopped
1 C Red wine (this is totally my idea.  A good red sauce needs wine)
Himalayan sea salt and pepper
Meatballs
1/2 C raw almonds, finely chopped
1/2 C coconut milk
2 1/2 lbs ground lamb
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1/4 C finely chopped basil leaves, plus whole leaves for garnish
1/4 C finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 T finely chopped mint
1 T finely chopped oregano
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped thyme
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 T dry red wine (just one T?  guess that means a glass for me while cooking)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground fennel
1 1/2 T Himalayan sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 C coconut oil

Warning:  After an hour of cooking this sauce, your house will smell AMAZING!

MAKE THE SAUCE In a large saucepan, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the anchovies and cook until they basically "melt".  Next, add garlic, basil, oregano, bay leaves and red pepper and cook over moderately high heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and simmer over moderately low heat, stirring, until the tomatoes are saucy, 1 hour. Stir in the about a cup of red wine.

MAKE THE MEATBALLS In a bowl, cover the almonds with the milk and let stand until most of the milk has been absorbed, 30 minutes. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the whole basil leaves, olive oil and mix well. Form into 1 1/2-inch meatballs and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.

In a skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Working in batches, cook the meatballs over moderately high heat, turning, until nearly cooked through, 7 minutes per batch.  I had issues with the meatballs sticking to the pan.  De-glazing with a bit of red wine worked wonders.

Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer until cooked through, 8 minutes. Spoon into bowls, top with basil.

MAKE AHEAD The meatballs can be refrigerated in the sauce overnight.

SUGGESTED PAIRING from Food & WinE

Traditional Chianti Classicos, made with only Sangiovese, have an herbal edge that befits these meatballs.

While my initial plan was to have the suggested pairing on hand, that didn't happen with this recipe.  On hand at my house was BV Coastal Cab, a personal choice with heavier tomato based dishes.  The wine that WOULD have been my choice is BV Coastal Pinot Noir.  Unfortunately, it was sold out at my local liquor store.  Probably because Food & Wine named it a great wine under $10.