Merry Mac & Cheese

Who says that the gluten-intolerant can't enjoy one of America's favorite comfort foods during the holidays - Macaroni and Cheese?!

I think I may make the best homemade Mac and Cheese on the planet - and it's gluten-free. For the holidays, add some Christmas color by folding in or laying the noodles and cheese sauce with a your favorite red. white and green veggies, lightly sauteed. I call this version Merry Mac and Cheese. This dish is a great way to get your kids to eat more veggies!

This recipes does have some dairy, as I won't give up real cheddar cheese (soy cheeses are no substitute in this case). So, for those that are also lactose-intolerant, who don't want to give up their mac and cheese, consider taking the enzyme supplement lactase. I find that soy cheese is tasteless and doesn't melt the same as regular cheese, but give it a try, if real cheese is absolutely not an option for you. Let me know how it turns out.

Ingredients (I like to double this recipe. If you do, remember not to double the salt):

1/2 pound medium or sharp Cheddar Cheese, cubed
4 tablespoons Butter (or butter substitute)
4 tablespoons all-purpose, gluten-free Flour*
1 teaspoon Vegetable Bouillon
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Dry Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Dash of Nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
1-1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt (I love using Herbamare; watch out for MSG in seasoned salts)
2 cups Milk Substitute (I use Rice Milk or Coconut Milk - original (neutral flavor))
1 8-ounce package of Quinoa Elbow Macaroni (I find that rice noodles tend to get mushy, but not the quinoa noodles - they stay firm)
Paprika for the top garnish
Mix of red, white and green vegetables to stir in or layer is optional*

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
2. If including colorful vegetables, chopped and lightly saute mixture with a little olive oil or butter (substitute).
3. Cube the cheese into 1/2-inch cubes and set aside in a bowl.
4. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter, blend in the *gluten-free flour mixture*, the seasonings and bouillon (if cubes, crumble first; if paste, blend first with butter).
5. Over low-heat blend and stir mixture until smooth and it starts to bubble. Do not let it brown.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk.
7. Return to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring continually. Add more milk, if too thick. Once the desired consistency is reached, reduce the heat to low and add in half or all the cheese. If you use half the cheese, the other half can be layered along with the *lightly sauteed vegetables or only the cheese.
8. Stir the cheese sauce until all the cheese is melted.
9. Cook the macaroni noodles according to package directions (add a little oil to the water, and stir to keep them from sticking together), drain and rinse.
10. In a "buttered" casserole dish, large enough for a single or double batch (picture here is a double batch), layer half of the macaroni noodles, sprinkle remaining cheese if you didn't add it all to make the cheese sauce, along with the sauteed vegetables. Pour half the cheese sauce evenly over the first layer of noodles (and vegetables).
11. Layer the remaining noodles, evenly pouring the the remaining cheese sauce over all. 
12. Garnish with paprika.
13. Bake the Mac and Cheese in a 350-degree oven for 30-40 minutes for a single batch and 40-50 minutes for a double batch.
14. One batch serves 6-8.

* Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix

Blend together the following ingredients and store in an air-tight container:
2 cups Rice Flour
2/3 cup Potato Starch
1/3 cup Tapioca Flour

Playful Teasing with Food

This is a really fascinating phenomenon to observe. Starting anywhere from five months of age on, babies discover on their own how to tease an adult by offering a toy or some kind of food, only to pull it away to make a teasing game out of it. Playful teasing. It becomes increasingly amusing for the baby as he or she repeats the gesture, especially if the adult’s reaction is amusing. Watch as our granddaughter Sephira, the day before she turns 13-months old, discovers that she can tease her grandpa as she offers him goldfish crackers from her cup.

Fishin' for Papas

Celebrating, Fall, Comfort Food and Family

I awoke to a blanket of fog that had settled upon Siuslaw Valley. As it burned off over the course of the morning, the fall scenes surrounding me were magnificent. Steam from the horses nostrils melded with the rays of soft light filtering through the golden leaves of the grand old maple. 

Today is our son-in-law's birthday. So I set to work early to set a fall harvest table, which later will be filled with warm, savory dishes for a cool, fall evening celebration. I'm cooking from Donna Klein's The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen. The main entree this evening is Mushroom, Pea and Pearl Onion Pot Pie with Herbed Potato Topping on page 108, served with Warm Beet Salad with Parsley and Walnuts on page 51.

Early in the afternoon, I made a double-batch of oven-ready pot pie and had just finished making the warm beet salad when the call came. Change of plans. Our son-in-law was going to have to work later than expected at the hospital. Not a problem, we simply took dinner to their house, so it would be ready to eat when he walked in the door.  

I only made a few changes to the recipes.

There was enough vegetable broth and cream cheese in the pot pie  mixture that the skim milk was totally unnecessary, mixed together with peas and pearl onions, sauteed chopped onions, mushrooms, red pepper and fresh basil. No longer having fresh herbs available from my garden, I blended a variety of dried herbs together from my spice cupboard: marjoram, oregano, savory, tarragon and thyme to add to the potato topping.

The whole beets warmed through with vegetable broth, raspberry vinegar, scallions and coarsely chopped walnuts were delicious all by themselves, but I presented each serving on a bed of fresh greens topped with crumbled feta cheese and drizzled with a zesty raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Locally-made, ready-to-bake bread from the natural foods grocer and bakery was hot and ready to slice and serve in ten minutes.

Effie and Dirk loved both the entree and the beet salad, rating the meal a *****.  Watching how our one year old granddaughter was gobbling her dinner down was the best compliment of all.

Our daughter served us an incredible non-alcoholic beverage she made with fresh prickly pear, lime, sugar and cinnamon.  This is not her exact recipe, but close:

2 cups cold water

1 cup ice

2 cups red prickly pears, halved, pulp and seeds scooped out (wear rubber gloves)

1/4 cup sugar, or to taste

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste

cinnamon to taste

Directions: In a blender combine all ingredients and blend on high speed until completely smooth. Pour cooler through a fine sieve into a glass pitcher. Chill cooler and stir before serving.

Effie also baked and beautifully decorated a German chocolate birthday cake for Dirk. I took a GlutenEase well in advance, realizing the temptation was going to be too great to pass on a slice of yummy homemade cake with vanilla  bean ice cream on this festive occasion.

Our family loves to get together and share in the cooking and eating of good food, always cooking more than enough to ensure that there will be leftovers. We do love our leftovers and find that they are often just as good or better the next day... with few exceptions.

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers.  The original meal has never been found."  ~Calvin Trillin