Mamma's Cooking

Quinoa Risotto

Risotto is a decadent, delicious and extremely versatile side or main dish. You can make a quick version in your rice cooker or put the kids in front of a movie and make this slow version. The slow version is much, much better. Forty minutes of cooking in peace is also much better 🙂 You can choose to make it vegetarian, vegan or full of meat. It is naturally gluten free. Here is my basic recipe:

Quinoa Risotto

Ingredients

32 ounces of chicken or vegetable stock

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon of chopped fresh sage

½ cup of sweet onion, diced finely

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup quinoa

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large measuring cup, like this Pyrex one, mix stock, garlic, rosemary and sage. In a medium soup pot brown the onions in olive oil. Add the quinoa and stir for a couple of minutes. Add about 1 cup of the flavored stock and stir until it soaks in. Then repeat, until the quinoa is cooked and creamy. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Then you can either serve as is or add in some cooked chicken and acorn squash or just the squash or roasted mushrooms, cooked peas, whatever you like.

You can make it more decadent by adding 1/2 cup of your favorite cheese. For example, cheddar and some broccoli or mozzarella and tomatoes, or just Parmesan.

To make risotto in your rice cooker, start the same way, heat the oil and onions in the rice cooker, then add the risotto. Add as much of the seasoned stock as your rice cooker will allow. Stir, cover and let cook. Then about 15 minutes later open the lid and stir again, adding more of the stock. Repeat until the risotto is the consistency you like and then add the meat, vegetables or cheese.

This could be a great side dish or main meal for a romantic dinner or for an elegant holiday meal. You can even wow your co-workers with this and bring it to a potluck. Keep it warm in a rice cooker or crock pot. I made it with cheddar and broccoli the other night and served it along side one of my cooking bucket list items: poached salmon. It was delicious! You’ll have to wait for that recipe 🙂

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Hot and Sour Soup to Warm your Soul

This is one of my favorite soups of all time! It is warm, comforting and absolutely delicious! I could eat this every day, especially now that the weather is cold. I was turned onto hot and sour soup when one of our local take out places brought me a free one. Their ploy worked! I was immediately hooked and had to add it to our order each time. To make it more cost effective I had to figure out how to make it at home. I looked at various recipes online but couldn’t find one that replicated that comforting flavor, so I played with it on my own and this is what I came up with! Enjoy!

Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil

¼ teaspoon of sesame oil

About ½ pound of shiitake mushrooms, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon chili paste (I use Gourmet Garden)

Pinch of white pepper (add more if you want it to be spicy, careful though a little goes a long way)

1/3 cup soy sauce (make sure it is gluten free, if making this GF. I use La Choy Low sodium)

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 cups beef stock

2 cups chicken stock (or you can use all vegetable stock or all beef or all chicken, it tested best with the mixture )

3 Tablespoons corn starch

3 Tablespoons water

1 egg, beaten

7 ounces (about half of a package) of extra firm tofu, diced

3 green onions, sliced

Directions

In a large soup pot over med-high, heat the vegetable oil and sesame oil. Add the mushrooms, garlic, chili paste, white pepper and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes, until fragrant then add soy and vinegar, stir and allow to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Add stock and simmer for another 5 to 6 minutes. In a small bowl combine corn starch and water then pour into the soup and stir. Cook for another couple of minutes and add beaten egg while stirring. Add tofu and green onions. Stir and then serve!

Note: This is a mild version, not very spicy. Add more chili paste and/or white pepper if you want more heat. Careful with the white pepper!

The first time I made this, I made a batch every week. I could not get enough! And I don’t even like mushrooms or tofu 😉 This is a healthy and satisfying meal that is gluten-free and can easily be made vegetarian or even vegan!

It is the perfect snack or meal to have on hand for family arriving for the holidays. I know I would want some after being on an airplane or in a car all day.

Take some time out of your hectic schedule this weekend and make some soup. Eat it in front of the fire. Realistically you might make it at 10 pm, after the kids are asleep, then eat it standing in the kitchen or hopefully in bed binge watching Netflix. Still, you should try. More soups to come each Friday! Here are the links to some past soups in case your in the mood for something else. (Just remember that if the post is before April 2014 it might need to be adapted to be gluten free – contact me! I can help)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Coconut Curry Sweet Potato Soup

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Meatballs, Plain and Simple

These meatballs are a blank canvas. Flavorful on their own but can easily be served with marinara or to make swedish meatballs or even the popular bbq sauce and grape jelly meatball appetizer. They are perfect to bring to a potluck, to bring to family or friends as an act of kindness or just to enjoy at home.

Meatballs (bulk recipe – you can 1/2 this recipe)

Ingredients

about 3 pounds of pork (boneless sirloin) (or 3 lbs of ground pork)

about 3 pounds of beef (bottom round) (or 3 pounds of ground beef)

8 slices of bacon

2 eggs

1/4 cup gluten-free bread crumbs

1/2 cup of milk

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1 Tablespoon shredded Parmesan

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together. Grind the meat and bacon together if you are not using store bought ground meat. If you are using store bought ground meat, finely chop the bacon or put it in your food processor. Form each meatball and place onto cooling rack placed over baking sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes. Serve with your favorite sauce or freeze in batches to use another time.

You can brown these first for a deeper flavor, but they are just as delicious just baking them. Keep them warm in your crockpot with your favorite marinara. This works well for entertaining. You can cook some gluten-free pasta and toast up some gluten-free garlic bread or make zoodles (zucchini noodles) for a pretty (and healthy!) red and green Christmas themed spaghetti and meatballs.

My kids love to take the leftover meatballs for lunch! Add some yogurt and carrots with hummus and we have a school lunch or a meal my child with celiac disease can bring with him if we are visiting family or friends.

You will find a great new meatball recipe here every Thursday for the next month! Check out these past blogs too for ideas on what to bring to your next potluck or what to serve at your next holiday gathering.

Italian Stuffed Meatballs

Good Food that happens to be Gluten Free

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BBQ pulled pork in the slow cooker

Using the slow cooker to make your dinner is one way to help lessen your stress during this hectic holiday season. As part of my month of posting, I will provide you with an easy slow cooker meal each Wednesday. Bonus, it will be gluten free and no one will ever know 🙂

Slow cookers can not only cook dinner for your family while you are out and about all day, but can cook dinner for a crowd (and keep it warm!) if you are entertaining family or friends. BBQ pulled pork is definitely a popular choice.

BBQ Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker

pulled-pork

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Pork tenderloin roast, about 2 pounds

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon cumin

1 Tablespoon ketchup

¼ cup water

Directions

Sear the pork in a hot pan in olive oil on all sides. Take out and put aside. Add onion and garlic to pan and sauté for a couple of minutes. Mix the cider vinegar, molasses, chili powder, cumin, ketchup and water. Add the vinegar mixture to the onions and take up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Put ½ of the onion in the bottom of the crock pot (heated to high). Place the pork on top and then pour the rest of the onions and vinegar mixture on top of the pork. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. Shred with a fork and mix some of the sauce in with it and add your favorite bbq sauce and serve as you like. You can serve with gluten free cornbread, baked potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes (Wegman’s sells and already mashed sweet potatoes that are amazing!) or on these pretzel rolls from Gluten Free on a Shoestring.

pretzel-roll-sandwiches

Do not be afraid of your slow cooker. It can help you. Even if you put it on at night and cook dinner overnight, put it in the fridge and reheat at dinner time. Cook it all over the weekend and reheat it. Do what you need and what works for you! More easy meals and holiday treats to come…stay tuned!

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Gluten-free Crispy Treats for the Holidays

Even though there are more and more gluten-free options on the market, there are some holiday treats that I have made for years that we want to continue to enjoy. Luckily some of the key ingredients are already gluten free: Hershey kisses, Nestle Chocolate chips, (some) candy canes, Chex cereal and more.

Crispy treats are a quick and easy dessert. They are also a blank canvas to make as simple or as fancy as you like.

Festive Crispy Treats

crispy-bar

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 -10 ounce bag of mini marshmallows

2 cups of Chocolate Chex

2 cups of Cinnamon Chex

2 cups Rice Chex or Wegman’s Crispy Rice Cereal

Directions

Microwave butter and marshmallows in a large bowl for one minute and stir. Microwave for 30 seconds more and stir. Microwave more at 10 second intervals until marshmallows are melted. Once all the marshmallows are melted add cereal. Stir and put into a buttered casserole dish and cool. Cut into bars and serve.

chex-bars

TIP: Add a cup of chocolate chips, use all rice Chex or use colored marshmallows.

These are treats that even skeptical, gluten loving family members and friends will love! More treats to come as we get closer to the holidays.

Past holiday treat post (Remember posts before April 2014 make sure you use gluten free ingredients or email me if you need help adapting a recipe!)

Getting ready for the holidays

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Twice Baked Potatoes, a perfect holiday side dish

Comforting, cheesy and delicious. Holidays often involve spending lots of time with family and even more time eating lots of food. Nostalgic comfort food is definitely more welcome at the table than talking about politics, religion or what Aunt Sylvia is wearing.

I have fond memories of my mom making twice baked potatoes and realized recently that I had never made them for my kids. They were even better than I remember.

Twice Baked Potato

twice-baked-potato-side-dish

Ingredients

8 small baked potatoes

2 cups + 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar

4 ounces of cream cheese

1/2 cup of milk

2 Tablespoons of butter

1 teaspoon of salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

foil-wrapped-baked-potatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash your potatoes and make 2 to 3 fork pricks into each and wrap each potato with foil. Place foil wrapped potatoes in oven directly on rack for 45 minutes, flipping over half way through. While potatoes are baking, place 2 cups of cheddar, cream cheese, milk, butter and spices in a large bowl. Once the potatoes are cool enough to touch, cut each in half and scoop out the insides and add to the bowl. Mash the ingredients in the bowl together using a teaspoon to fill the potato shells. Top with the rest of the shredded cheese. Put back in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

twice-baked-potatoes

TIP: You can prep this ahead of time and then reheat at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until heated through.

More holiday side dishes to come next week! Tomorrow, look out for more holiday treat ideas! And as always gluten free, but no one can tell 😉

Holiday side ideas from past posts:

Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish: My favorite! Acorn Squash

I guess Thanksgiving is coming soon?!

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Gingerbread Cookies

My kids love the tradition of making and decorating gingerbread men. I was scared that we wouldn’t be able to continue the tradition when my son was diagnosed with celiac disease. Luckily we can do it and they taste great. Even our non- gluten free friends have enjoyed them!

There are some great gluten-free cookbooks and websites out there and I make recipes from them often, but sometimes you have that recipe that you have made over and over and want to transform it. I love Martha Stewart’s gingerbread cookies, so I adapted it to be gluten free…and they came out great! They are a soft, cake like cookie.

Gingerbread Cookies (adapted to be gluten free from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook)

gingerbreadmen-gluten-free

Ingredients

3 cups sifted all-purpose gluten free flour (I use Cup4Cup)

½ teaspoon of baking soda

¼ teaspoon of baking powder

½ cup of butter, unsalted (one stick)

½ cup packed dark-brown sugar

½ Tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ Tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon of ground cloves

Pinch of finely ground black pepper

½ teaspoon of kosher salt

2 large eggs

¾ cup of molasses

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix spices and salt in. Beat in eggs and molasses. Add flour mixture on low speed until thoroughly combined. Divide dough into thirds and wrap into plastic. Chill for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured work surface, roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool and decorate as desired.

gingerbread-man

You also don’t have to give up gingerbread houses! You can make the gingerbread yourself, but in our family no one every really eats the gingerbread. This recipe might be a little soft for it though.

I found these plastic houses at Santa’s Village gift shop a couple of years ago from The Candy Cottage. We just cover it with frosting and decorate it with our favorite GF candies.

candy-cottage-picture

Let the cookie baking season begin! What are your favorite holiday treats? Do you have a holiday treat that you would like to adapt to be gluten free? Contact me via email or comment!

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One Pan Roast Chicken with Tomato Sauce

You can never have enough chicken recipes. Chicken is so versatile and often a crowd pleaser. This one pan roast chicken, okay 2 pans, if you count the other one to boil pasta 😉 is easy, delicious and made up of ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Roast Chicken with Tomato Sauce

chicken-with-peas

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons of olive oil

4 chicken thighs

Salt and pepper (unless chicken was brined, then leave this out)

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½ teaspoon oregano

1-24 ounce can of crushed tomatoes

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

¾ cup of frozen peas

4 ounces of feta

Directions

In a heavy bottomed large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. If you did not brine the chicken thighs, salt and pepper them. Remove chicken and add onions, garlic and oregano to the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the can of tomatoes and the vinegar. Stir. Place the chicken back into the skillet and place into the oven for 12 minutes, covered. Uncover and cook for another 25 minutes. Add peas and cook for another 10-12 minutes. Serve over your favorite pasta or zoodles and crumble feta on top.

roast-chicken-with-tomato-sauce

This fed our family of 5 for dinner plus enough was left over for 3 lunches with the pasta. You can easily double this recipe to feed more or freeze for a quick meal another time.

TIP: If you are going to brine the chicken, here is my brine recipe, but you probably only need to make 1/4 of it since this recipe is for a turkey 🙂

During the holidays you need easy, one pot meals that are good enough to feed guests. Try this or one of these easy recipes:

3 Easy 10 Minute Meals

Super Easy Pasta Night

Stay tuned for the first holiday cookie recipe tomorrow!

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Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup. It is one of those soups that can make everything better. Grandmother’s swear that it will heal any cold. My kids definitely buy into that 🙂 Whenever they are sick, and I never know when that is going to happen, they ask for my chicken noodle soup. They don’t know the joy of Cup o’Soup or Top Ramen because our house has to be gluten free. I haven’t really found an already made gluten-free brand that works, so I make this recipe at home and freeze it. Then when someone is sick, I can just pull it out of the freezer and instant comfort.

You can easily make this soup with store bought chicken stock, so go right ahead. I do it all the time. Especially when one kid after the other is sick and then I’m sick and my freezer supply has been depleted.

Chicken Noodle Soup

chicken-noodle-soup

Ingredients

6 ounces (1/2 box) of small pasta (I like the gluten-free Schar Bonta d’Italia anellini), cooked

5 cups of stock

¾ cups diced carrots

1 ½ cups cooked diced chicken

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

chicken-noodle-soup-ingredients

Directions

Heat through and serve or freeze (equals about 8 cups of soup).

In my fantasy world, I would always have homemade chicken stock in the freezer, but that is not reality. That said, it is so deep in flavor! You have to try it at least once!

Homemade Chicken Stock

chicken-soup-prep

Ingredients

3 to 3 ½ pounds of drumsticks and/or chicken thighs

1 teaspoon of salt

1/8 teaspoon of pepper

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

2 stems of fresh rosemary

1 cup of chopped celery

1 cup of chopped carrot

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 large onion chopped

2 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 Tablespoons of peppercorns

12 cups of water

chicken-stock-cooking

Directions

Pat chicken dry and rub the salt, pepper and thyme all over each piece. Chop the vegetables and garlic. Pour olive oil into a large soup pot. Brown chicken on all sides and remove from pot. Add chopped vegetables, garlic, rosemary stems and peppercorns into the pot and cook while stirring for 3 to 5 minutes. Pour 6 cups of the water into the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom until you get all the cooked bits off. Return the chicken to the pot and pour the rest of the water in. Stir. Let simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours until meat starts to fall off the bone. Remove chicken and set aside. Pour the rest through a strainer lined with cheese cloth. Set aside of the carrots and celery to add to the chicken noodle soup if you are making some. Allow everything to cool. Either freeze or use stock for the soup. Shred the chicken and either freeze or use for soup or mix with bbq sauce for bbq chicken sandwiches.

You will not regret making this. Your family will love it and your house will smell amazing!

For the next month, every Friday I’ll be posting a new soup recipe for you and your family to enjoy! Everyday you will see something different holiday treats, meals for a crowd and easy dinners that no one will even know it is gluten free! Enter your email on the side in the subscribe box so that you won’t miss one! Happy Friday 🙂

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Italian Stuffed Meatballs

A week later and its time to forget about turkey for a little while and switch up your menu! Try these Italian stuffed meatballs and leave your family and friends asking for seconds and thirds! Thanks to my family and friends who tested this for me 🙂

These meatballs would be great for a weekend dinner or even holiday appetizers meal! If you in the mood for Asian flavors, try these Bahn Mi Meatballs.

Italian Stuffed Meatballs

italian-meatballs-with-sauce

Ingredients

About 3.5 lbs ground beef, chicken or pork (I like to use 2/3 pork and 1/3 chicken thighs or 2/3 beef and 1/3 pork for the best flavor)

3 pieces of bacon, chopped finely (or pulsed in the food processor)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

½ teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon garlic paste (or 1 clove of garlic, minced)

2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped finely

1 egg

1/4 cup of bread crumbs (use gluten-free breadcrumbs if making this gluten free)

6 to 8 oz of mozzarella, cut into ½ inch cubes

2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl mix salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano, garlic, basil, egg and bread crumbs. Place meat and bacon in a large bowl and add the egg mixture. Get your hands dirty and mix it all together.

italian-meatballs-ready-to-be-cooked

TIP: Cook a small patty of the meat mixture to taste and adjust seasonings if you need before stuffing and cooking the whole batch.

Roll meatballs. Take a cube of mozzarella and stuff it into the center of the meatball, making sure it is completely encapsulated by the meat mixture.

italian-stuffed-meatballs

Heat a large not stick-pan to medium-high, add olive oil. Brown meatballs and transfer to a baking rack that sits on top of a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. You can skip the browning step if you like and just add about 5-10 minutes of baking time.

italian-meatballs

Serve with your favorite tomato sauce and spaghetti, make meatballs subs, serve as an appetizer or freeze for another night when you need an easy meal.

Now, let’s talk ground meat. I grind my own meat using this attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. I love it. The meat tastes so much better when freshly ground. You can ask a butcher to do this for you, just make sure if you are keeping gluten free that they are taking necessary precautions to not cross contaminate the meat with marinated meat or spices that contain gluten.

One post down and 30 to go! A post a day until the end of December! Posts filled with gluten-free holiday treats, easy meals and ideas for your holiday gatherings through the new year that everyone will enjoy!

Here are some links to past holiday posts with the regular disclosure that if it was written before April 2014, it may not be gluten free.