I recently wrote about my top ten travel food experiences. Food is such an important part of travel for me. What have you eaten on your travels that was memorable?

I recently wrote about my top ten travel food experiences. Food is such an important part of travel for me. What have you eaten on your travels that was memorable?

I found this recipe in The Gluten-Free Table, by Emeril Lagasse’s daughters (see my review here). It packed a TON of flavor. I totally loved it!

Cut up one head of cauliflower and arrange in a baking dish. Preheat oven to 450. Melt 4 tbsp butter and 1 big clove of garlic, minced, in the microwave, then pour it over the cauliflower. Season with salt and pepper. Roast 20-25 minutes.

Bam. It was crunchy. It was flavorful. It was not boring. I am in love.

I found this recipe in The Gluten-Free Table, by Emeril Lagasse’s daughters (see my review here). It packed a TON of flavor. I totally loved it! Cut up one head of cauliflower and arrange in a baking dish. Preheat oven to 450. Melt 4 tbsp butter and 1 big clove of garlic, minced, in the … Read more →

You can thank Paula Deen for this recipe, which I found in the Jan/Feb issue of her magazine. This is one of the lighter recipes the magazine is now featuring. I made half a batch of this and it was more than enough for my family of 4 (lots of leftovers). I really liked the flavor of the onions in this dish and it was nice and creamy. Caramelizing the onions is the time-consuming part of this. I made twice what I needed and froze the rest – they will be a great way to dress up my veggies or to use in other recipes in the coming week.

There is one flaw in this recipe – it lists Pecorino Romano cheese, but there is nowhere in the instructions where it says to add it! So I put mine on top (shrug). The recipe calls for low-fat evaporated milk, but I could only find fat free, so I used that.

1 tbsp flour

2 lbs sweet onions, sliced

1/3 cup flour

1 12 oz can light evaporated milk

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp thyme

5 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally for an hour or until golden brown.

In a small bowl, whisk flour with 1/2 cup of the milk. In a saucepan, combine the rest of the milk, chicken broth, pepper,and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Whisk in the milk/flour mixture and reduce heat to medium, whisking for 5 minutes or until thick. Stir in thyme.

Arrange 1/4 of the potatoes on bottom of pan. Top with 1/4 of the milk and 1/4 of the onions. Repeat 3 times. Cover with foil.

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake another 45 minutes.

It turned out perfectly and fed us for a second meal as leftovers.

You can thank Paula Deen for this recipe, which I found in the Jan/Feb issue of her magazine. This is one of the lighter recipes the magazine is now featuring. I made half a batch of this and it was more than enough for my family of 4 (lots of leftovers). I really liked the … Read more →

I make ham twice a year. Christmas Eve and Easter. I’m not sure why, except it’s kind of a novelty, smells good, and it does taste great, especially when I baste with pineapple juice and make a brown sugar and Dijon mustard coating! But the end result is I have tons of ham haunting me afterwards. I took the bull by the horns and whipped up this awesome casserole. It was so good I would buy deli ham just to make it again.

Ham, Rice and Broccoli Casserole

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour (I used gluten-free)

2 cups skim milk

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper

2 1/4 cups hot rice (if you use leftover rice, heat it in the microwave)

2 cups broccoli florets (I used raw, but if you have leftover cooked broccoli, you can use that)

1 1/2 cups diced ham

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

2 tbsp breadcrumbs (I used gluten-free)

 

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9×9 square inch baking dish with cooking spray. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour, cooking it for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the milk and mustard and salt and pepper to your taste, and whisk occasionally as it thickens over medium low heat. (Note that you can make this sauce in advance, but be sure to heat it up before you pour it on your casserole.)

Meanwhile, spread the rice on the bottom of the dish. Top with the broccoli, then with the ham. Once the sauce is thick, pour it on top. Sprinkle with the cheese. Top with the breadcrumbs. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 25 minutes until bubbly and browning on the top.

Oh my. This was creamy and comforting and I felt oh so virtuous for using up my leftovers. Everyone loved this, so this is definitely going to be my go-to dish to use up ham from now on!

I make ham twice a year. Christmas Eve and Easter. I’m not sure why, except it’s kind of a novelty, smells good, and it does taste great, especially when I baste with pineapple juice and make a brown sugar and Dijon mustard coating! But the end result is I have tons of ham haunting me … Read more →

Did I get you with “apple and bacon?” Oh yeah. This was really yummy and it smelled so great while it was cooking!

Apple and Bacon Stuffed Pork Roast

4 slices bacon, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

salt and pepper

4 slices sandwich bread, in small pieces (I used gluten-free)

1/2 cup (or more) chicken broth

2 sweet potatoes, cut into quarters

2 lb bone in pork roast

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon. Cook the onion and celery in the bacon grease until translucent. Add garlic and apple and cook until the apple is soft. Place the apple mixture in a medium bowl and add the bread and salt and pepper to taste. Add as much broth as needed to make the mixture soft and mix it all together well.

Grease an 8×12 pan. Place the sweet potatoes on the bottom. Make deep slits in the pork roast, between the bones. Place the roast on top of the potatoes. Stuff the roast in the slits. Pile remaining stuffing on top. Cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meat is 145 degrees, removing foil after about an hour or an hour and 15 minutes, so everything can brown.

Did I get you with “apple and bacon?” Oh yeah. This was really yummy and it smelled so great while it was cooking! Apple and Bacon Stuffed Pork Roast 4 slices bacon, diced 1 small onion, diced 1 stalk celery, diced 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced salt and pepper 4 … Read more →

As you can see from the photo, this dip was very popular at a recent family Christmas party! By the time I made it there with my camera, the hungry hoards had devoured it. I found this recipe in Taste of Home magazine (where, honestly, I don’t find too many recipes I like and was just about to let my subscription lapse). I made half of this recipe for a party of 14 people where we had two hors d’oeuvres.

1 jar (32 ox) sauerkraut, drained well

10 oz deli corned beef, chopped

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

1 cup mayo (I used light)

3/4 cup Russian dressing

1 tsp caraway seeds

Mix the first six ingredients then stir in the seeds. Transfer to a greased 13×9 baking dish and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until bubbly.

I cooked mine at home and reheated in the microwave at the party. I served it with rye bread cut into quarters and some gluten free crackers (for me).

It was fantastic! I ate some leftovers the next day on celery and that was good too. It tastes just like a reuben sandwich. It was a snap to put together. I’m adding this to my “easy” file!

As you can see from the photo, this dip was very popular at a recent family Christmas party! By the time I made it there with my camera, the hungry hoards had devoured it. I found this recipe in Taste of Home magazine (where, honestly, I don’t find too many recipes I like and was … Read more →

I made this festive little salad for Christmas dinner. Arrange lettuce in your individual salad bowls (I used Boston lettuce). Quarter a pear and core it. Then take each quarter and slice it, but leave it attached up at the top of the section. Place a quarter on each salad plate and fan it out. Sprinkle some dried cherries or dried cranberries over it. Drop dabs of goat cheese around the salad.

For the dressing, I mixed up a simple vinaigrette. I make my salad dressing in a jelly jar. I add oil (here I used about 1/2 cup) then I add balsamic vinegar to total about 1/5 of the oil amount. In this dressing I also added a dash of orange juice. Add 1/2 tsp of sugar, salt and pepper, some dried Italian herbs, one small minced clove of garlic and 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard. Shake it up and dress the salad.

I made this festive little salad for Christmas dinner. Arrange lettuce in your individual salad bowls (I used Boston lettuce). Quarter a pear and core it. Then take each quarter and slice it, but leave it attached up at the top of the section. Place a quarter on each salad plate and fan it out. … Read more →

I was in charge of dessert for Christmas dinner and decided to try to replicate the lemon cake we had in Sorrento, Italy, that is a local specialty. Googling did not help me find a recipe. Then I talked to my hair stylist who lived in Italy until he was a teen and frequently visits the Amalfi Coast. He suggested two cookbooks – Sophia Loren’s cookbook (now out of print: she is from the Amalfi Coast area) and The Silver Spoon, which he described as Italy’s The Joy of Cooking. I was able to get both books at the library. Sophia did not help me, but the Silver Spoon has a recipe called Lemon Delight. It sounded like it was at least close.  Here’s the recipe:

Cake:

5 eggs

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

zest of 1 lemon

 

Chantilly Lemon Cream:

4 1/4 cups milk

1/2 vanilla bean, silt lengthwise

zest of 6 lemons

6 egg yolks

1 cup superfine sugar

scant 1 cup flour

3 tbsp cornstarch

1 drop lemon extract

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

 

Bergamot syrup:

3 cups superfine sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp bergamot extract

3 drops lemon extract

 

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch cake pan with wax paper and brush with butter (I used a silicone pan I sprayed with cooking spray). Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift flour and baking powder and stir in lemon zest, then fold into egg mixture. Spoon into cake pan and bake 30-40 minutes (mine took 25 minutes), until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool, then cut the cake in half horizontally.

To make the lemon cream:

Pour milk into a pan. Scrape seeds and pulp from vanilla bean into the milk and add all but 1 tsp of lemon zest. Bring to a boil over low heat. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, sugar, flour and cornstarch together in a heatproof bowl. Remove the milk from the heat as soon as it begins to boil and gradually add to the egg mixture, constantly stirring. Pour it back into the pan and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and pour into a bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. (Note: I strained this through a fine sieve since it was full of lumps, then I covered it with plastic wrap to prevent the skin). When it is cool, whisk until smooth, adding remaining zest and lemon extract. Stiffly whisk the cream in another bowl then gently fold into the lemon mixture.

To make the syrup:

Pour 4 1/4 cups water into a pan and add the sugar, bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil, without stirring for 2 minutes until thick and syrupy, remove from heat and let cool (see my note below about this). Measure 1/2 cup of the syrup into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice bergamot syrup, and lemon extract. Pour the syrup into a large shallow dish (I used a round platter).

To assemble:

Soak each round of cake in the syrup. Put one round on a serving dish and spread with half the chantilly lemon cream, then top with the other round, using the remaining cream to cover and decorate the cake.

My notes:

Now, there are a few problems with this recipe. You’ll notice that it tells you to use 4 1/4 cups of water to make the bergamot syrup, but then you are only supposed to use 1/2 cup of it. I think there is a mistake in the translation here. So, instead, I boiled the water down for a lot longer until it was thick and syrupy. It had some crystallization of the sugar, which actually ended up being a really nice touch – having a bit of crunch when you bite into the cake.

The other issue is the bergamot extract, which I could not find. So in place, I used a few drops of lemon extract and orange extract. It worked out well.

I used gluten-free flour in this recipe and it was not a problem. I also used lactose free milk without issue.

I found the filling/frosting to be very runny and there was simply far too much of it. So I served the excess in a bowl and some people added some to their cake on the side, but it really wasn’t needed.

Overall, this was a very delicious cake with a very strong lemon flavor, but it is NOT the cake I had in Sorrento. That cake had almost a meringue on it – much lighter and fluffier than this cake was. This cake is a lovely soft sponge with intense lemon flavor with a creamy sauce on it.

This recipes was a lot of work, but it was very different than anything I’ve been served stateside, so in that respect it was a success.

I was in charge of dessert for Christmas dinner and decided to try to replicate the lemon cake we had in Sorrento, Italy, that is a local specialty. Googling did not help me find a recipe. Then I talked to my hair stylist who lived in Italy until he was a teen and frequently visits … Read more →

It was cookie night at the Sember household. Even though my kids are 20 and almost 15, they still look forward to it. This is our first year with gluten free cookies and everything turned out well. I used Cup4Cup flour and made chocolate chip, sugar cookies, and gingerbread cookies with my usual recipes. I made all the dough one night, refrigerated it and baked it another night. Then last night we decorated. I got gluten free natural (plant-based) food coloring for my birthday and used those to make different colors. Last year we tried putting each color frosting in a squeeze bottle, but we don’t make enough to fill the bottles and it ended up not working well. So this year, we went back to the tried and true method of a butter knife for each color. We have quite a collection of decorations we use. It was a fun night which ended, of course, with everyone having a cookie!

It was cookie night at the Sember household. Even though my kids are 20 and almost 15, they still look forward to it. This is our first year with gluten free cookies and everything turned out well. I used Cup4Cup flour and made chocolate chip, sugar cookies, and gingerbread cookies with my usual recipes. I … Read more →

I’m always on a quest to find great recipes for leftovers. My latest is a delicious combo of chicken and rice with a creamy sauce. No one will know you used leftovers to make this!

Chicken and Rice Casserole

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and diced

2 tbsp flour (I used gluten-free)

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken broth

2 slices Swiss cheese, broken into small pieces

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups diced cooked chicken (about 2 breasts)

4 cups cooked rice (I used a combo of white and brown)

1 cup frozen peas (or cooked, leftover peas)

2 tbsp breadcrumbs (I used gluten free)

Preheat the oven to 400 and spray an 8×12 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Melt butter and olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add onion. Cook until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for one minute. Whisk in milk and broth and cook until it thickens.

Stir in cheese, thyme, salt, pepper and mustard, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in chicken and peas.

Spread rice in the baking pan. Top with chicken mixture. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and spray with cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbly. Serves 6.

SOO easy and yummy!

 

I’m always on a quest to find great recipes for leftovers. My latest is a delicious combo of chicken and rice with a creamy sauce. No one will know you used leftovers to make this! Chicken and Rice Casserole 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp olive oil 1 small onion, peeled and diced 2 tbsp flour … Read more →